1918, Belowla. As the Great War grinds to an end, Adelaide Roberts accompanies her father to a rugged island off the south coast of New South Wales. While loss and deprivation have decimated the country, Ada dreams of a life filled with purpose and hope. On the windswept rocky outcrop she meets lighthouse keeper Emmett Huxley, a dark-eyed outsider haunted by his service in France. Adelaide and Emmett are inexorably drawn together, but Adelaide discovers plans have been made for her with decorated returned soldier Donal Blaxland, a local landowner. Soon Adelaide is forced to make a choice about her future, and discovers that Donal harbours terrible secrets of his own. As she begins to understand the depths of Donal’s desperation, Adelaide knows she must leave – and between the treacherous waters of the coast and the rugged ranges of an ancient land, she fights for her survival, determined to live and love on her own terms.