内容简介：
Jenny Miller, a school teacher, living in the industrial midlands of England, travels to a remore island off the coast of Maine, to learn about her father, who has recently died. Jenny's father abandoned her and her mother when she was eighty years old. Now she learns from a Boston lawyer of property that he owned. She finds mystery in the way he died. The islanders are strange and withdrawn, and, as her father's daughter she finds that she is ostracized by them. With the help of two new found friends, the island policeman and the vicar of the local church, she unravels a terrible tale and learns the secret that shadows the life of the islanders. Her discoveries lead to the question, was her father evil or innocent? The story ends in a climax which cleanses the horror that has gripped the island people, and vindication is found for Jenny in the promise of a new life and new love.