In her youth, Clare spent all her time with Patrick Carraday, the son of one of richest men in Galveston. Patrick who lives in the large historical home adjacent to her own is wild and reckless. Drawn to each other, they become confidantes and co-conspirators. After a shocking and horrifying incident that alarms both of their families, the two of them are sent away--to opposite corners of the world.
Clare is sent to Ohio where she marries and establishes herself as a successful photographer. After her daughter's death, though, and with her own marriage crumbling, Clare returns to the island that relentlessly calls out to her. Though Eleanor, her mother, and Faline, the cook, try to dissuade her from seeing him, she persists in searching for Patrick who eludes her.
Clare ostensibly returns to Galveston to create a photographic exhibit. Clare has an even more urgent need, however, to excavate her past. She wants to understand her mother and father's coldness towards her. Most of all, she wants to know what happened after she and Patrick were sent away.
Many stories swirl around the Carraday family, including the one about Stella who had become part of the island's lore. Clare identifies with Stella, who died while trying to escape the hurricane of 1900 with her architect boyfriend, Henry Durand, because Stella is also a rebel.
As Clare sifts through ancient photographs, Clare tries to comprehend Stella's story. She planned on including Stella's story at her own photography exhibit. She is unprepared, however, for what she finds--a photograph of a woman that may be Stella. If it is Stella, then the photo could prove the island's legend wrong. Stella may have survived the storm and she may have been forced to return to the Carraday house.
Clare uncovers many more secrets--a secret relationship between Will Carraday and her own mother. As memories flood in, Clare begins to understand her difficult, complicated relationship with her father and sister. Clare pieces together the real reason she and Patrick were forcibly separated.
This novel captures the Galveston atmosphere perfectly as well as the isolation and the pride of its inhabitants. Inhabitants are proud to point out if they were BOI or born on the island. Black also depicts the island's rich history and its vulnerability.