1921. THE ALASKA TERRITORY Nurse Leona Herkimer arrives in the Tlingit village of Hoonah to help the tribe through frontier plagues and wilderness calamities. Together, she and teacher Ivy Bolton face misfortunes, threats to their patients and students, dangerous wildlife, and the frailties of loving roughhewn men. Yet Leona's greatest peril is her own past's hold on her. 1946. WASHINTON STATE'S OLYMPIC PENINSULA Ivy, now a senior with attitude, befriends a young amputee fresh from war. She becomes his support through mental and physical recovery. Over lemonade and macaroons on the front porch, Ivy tells him a story of a past he never knew.