Dorset, 1838. The evening after a violent storm, a taciturn stonecutter prowling the Portland coast in search of plunder finds himself in possession of the most priceless treasure of all: a crying, hungry baby girl strapped securely in her cradle has miraculously survived the battering of the waves. With no children of their own, Joseph Rushmore and his wife adopt the infant and bring her up as their daughter.
The child blossoms into a beautiful young woman, blissfully ignorant of the extraordinary truth about her origins. But Joanna Rushmore's happy childhood is about to come to a shattering end. For the past cannot be kept hidden forever, and the secret of Joanna's birth is destined to catapult her into a future she could never have dreamed of, causing untold heartache, an impossible dilemma, and - finally - a passionate love.
