San Miguel

The schooner front Santa Barbara arrives at the island of San Miguel on New Year's Day, 1888. Marantha looks at the cliffs falling into the churning sea. This is the first day of her new life. Before long, the constant wind and sheep-ravaged wasteland shatter her illusions ; her husband promised paradise. As he obsessively resolves to stay - and becomes increamingly distant from her and their adopted daughter, Edith Marantha's blighted lungs grow weaker in the dampness. Forty-two years later another family - and another bride - will arrive on San Miguel. But the unyielding island is haunted by its history, by stories of isolation, the desires of subborn men, and the unbearable burden of love.