The Ocean follows the lives of three women through the growing modernization and political turmoil of Chile during the latter half of the 20th century, to their exile on the other side of the world in wintery, land-locked Winnipeg.These three women - Maria Soledad, Consuelo and Pilar - each live in different eras, yet are all confronted with changed personal and public histories that have a profound effect on their lives. Maria Soledad struggles with the restrictions placed on her because she is a woman; Consuelo fails to understand the dire and dangerous political climate she is immersed within; and Pilar is trapped in a body that she cannot fully control. The only one constant in their lives is the enduring presence of the ocean.