Newport, Rhode Island

New York Times best-selling author Luanne Rice explores with penetrating insight the complex emotional equations of love and loyalty that hold together three pairs of remarkable sisters a bond that proves powerful and true even in the face of loss and tragedy. Here in the halls of Newport Academy, a unique private school that has attracted generations of rebels, outcasts, and visionaries, a poignant and unforgettable lesson in the eternal truths of sisterhood is about to begin.

After years away, Maggie Shaw has returned to Newport to teach English at the academy. Behind her lies her life as the perfect midwestern wife and mother, a life that seemed on the surface to be all she had ever wished for. Ahead lie long-buried truths cracked open by the unfathomable loss of her husband and eldest daughter.

Newport has never failed to infuse Maggie with a sense of mystery, romance, and hope. But for 14-year-old Beck, the move is a painful upheaval from everything she has ever loved, especially her sister, Carrie. Ever since her father and sister disappeared into the storm-tossed waters off Mackinac Island, Beck has retreated into the world of mathematics, where principles are permanent, unlike so many other things in life. Without Carrie, Beck has lost half of herself, the half that would have fit in at the elite private school she and her brother, Travis, will now attend. The half that made things right. Still, Beck clings to the hope that her sister will return. For her body remains undiscovered and only Beck knows about Carrie's last day, about her plans.

Beck isn't alone in her struggle to adjust. At 16, Travis is juggling a long-distance first love and an attraction to an expensive-looking girl with a wicked sparkle in her eye. And for Maggie, ghosts linger here, an unresolved breach with her own beloved sister and a long-ago secret that may now have the power to set her free.