Dido Twite gets into trouble after being shipwrecked and picked up by a whaling ship.

Although she is desperate to return to England, Dido Twite is caught in Nantucket where she and Penitence Casket have to stay with creepy Aunt Tribulation.

After the Mankato Massacre of 1862, the Dakota Indians were banished from Minnesota. 14 years later, young Asa's life is changed by two visitors, each bearing secrets from the past which can no longer be buried. Maltman brings back to life a nearly forgotten episode in the history of the settlement in the American Midwest, which has been overshadowed by the Civil War.