Whitby 1901. Sarah Brook has kept diaries for most of her life. Now eighty-five & at the end of her own journey she allows her favourite great-niece Esther to read them. But while full of Sarahs thoughts & dreams & family stories the diaries also hold dark family secrets about the past which are about to be exposed... Whitby 1832. When their mother tragically dies life changes dramatically for Sarah & her siblings. Arabella is ordered by their father to assume the domestic role
- something she fears will destroy her hoped-for relationship with John Sharp captain of her fathers whale ship the Sea King. Little does she know that Harriet has an idea to ensure she doesnt end up with a hard life like Arabella: she will ensnare John & marry him. Charley too has his own escape plan: determined to forge a life at sea against his fathers wishes he stows away on the Sea King. But when tragedy strikes the Sea King in the Arctic the Brook family & those near to them are forced to make crucial assessments about their futures...