The story of a family of lobstermen who skyrocket from poverty to wealth, a local writer obsessed with their rise, and the small-town secrets that bind them all together.
It's spring in the tiny town of Damariscotta, a tourist haven on the coast of Maine known for its oysters and antiques. Andrew, a high school English teacher recently returned to the area, has brought his family to Ed and Steph Thatch's riverside estate to attend an extravagant reception for the Amherst Women's Lacrosse Team, where everyone's wearing an Amherst shade of purple. Back when they were teenagers, Andrew never could have guessed that Ed - descended from a long line of lobstermen - would one day send his daughter to a place like Amherst, but clearly the years have been good to Ed. Andrew's enjoying the party, if a little jealously - a part of him wishes he could afford for his own family even a fraction of what Ed's provided for his.
As Andrew wanders through the Thatches' house, he stumbles upon a police file he's not supposed to see. In the file are pictures of a burned-out sedan: a blackened trunk, a torched body. Andrew's confusion and envy turn to horror. And when the police arrive an hour later, the true story of the Thatches - a family Andrew thought he understood - begins.
