In the opening pages of the novel, the first-person narrator, Sara Louise Bradshaw, also known as “Louise,” anticipates the journey she will make to Rass Island in Chesapeake Bay, where she was born and grew up. She imagines the ferry trip to the island and the first sight of the crab houses and boats outside the small village where members of her family have lived for more than 200 years. Now, only her mother lives there. Soon, none of them will remain there, as the narrator plans to bring her mother to live with her elsewhere. Louise muses on her belated realization of how much she loves Rass Island but notes that neither she nor Caroline, her twin sister, were able to stay there.

In 1941, Louise and McCall “Call” Purnell spend the summer crab fishing on Louise’s small skiff. Louise is 13, “tall and large boned, with delusions of beauty and romance” while Call is a year older, “pudgy, bespectacled, and totally unsentimental” (5). They are each other’s only friends. Louise appreciates that Call does not tease her, but she complains that he never laughs at her jokes and is unable to appreciate the information she gleans from Time magazine.