In January 1809, John Frayne returns to New Forge in the state of York, to reclaim his father's confiscated lands and the affection of an abandoned son. There, he is drawn to a beautiful, damaged woman in ragged clothing whom he first sees sliding a wrapped body through a hole in the frozen surface of the Bay or Spirits. A mute "madwoman" named Jennet Trevor, she is soon declared indigent and put up for auction. And it is Frayne who bids for her future. He can never own this perplexing, wild creature, but with respect, love, and kindness, perhaps the damned and secretive Frayne can help her to fly above the coarse and killing world that is closing in on them both.