" ... In the spring of 1903, a ship explodes as it docks on a Scottish island, drowning many of the passengers and crew in the icy waters of Stolnsay harbour. Young, strawberry-blonde-haired Billie Paxton is among the only survivors. Clumsy, illiterate and suddenly alone, Billie will not say why, before the explosion, she jumped from ship to shore and so falls under the immediate suspicion of her fellow passenger, Murdo Hesketh, and his cousin and employer Lord Hallowhulme, who owns the island - and has controversial plans for improving the lives of its inhabitants."--Back cover.