At thirty-six, Marigold Elliott wakes to the certainty she's living the wrong life. Her hard-driving husband is scaling Vancouver's corporate heights, her shrewd and beautiful sister is on her way up the social ladder, and her democratic mother holds all in equal judgment. Can Mari break from a stifling status quo, or are the bonds of family too strong? Either way, she's about to lose the one thing she wants in life. Fortysomething Charlie Upton fears his life will never be right again. Following a family tragedy that leads to divorce, he returns to his childhood home on Gull Island searching for a semblance of peace. Their stories unfold in alternating narratives, woven together by an idyllic island off the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia. But the remote reaches of Gull Island are not remote enough for escape from the weight of the past. Ironic, insightful humour tempers an intimate story of love, loss, and healing.