Dawn Rae Downton recreates the story of her mother's family in the tiny fishing village of Seldom, a remote outport on the northeasternmost tip of Canada. In this isolated, weather-beaten community, at the mercy of the sea, the inhabitants were united in shared hardship and tragedy. But no-one apart from the Wiseman children knew, or chose to know, what was going on in Sidney Skipper Wiseman and his wife Ethel's house. For long months each year when their father was home from sea, his children saw at first hand his moods and rages, as violent and unpredictable as the weather. From revealing details, Downton crafts a powerful narrative of one man's demons and one woman's love, and the secrets, lies and pride that protected the family's reputaton and blighted their lives.