In 1888 Mary Edwards Gerritse is a cheerful, well-read, witty, and confident young woman who spends as much time as possible outdoors on the rugged Oregon coast where she and her husband, John, are making a home. The two are a formidable pair, working hard to prove up their homesteading claim and build a family.
But as Mary faces the challenge of young motherhood and struggles with questions about her family of origin, she finds the fearless girl she once was slipping away. Life feels less like the adventure she thought it would be and more like a daily struggle.
When Mary loses the baby she's carrying (and nearly her own life in the process), she finds an unconventional way to bring the joy back into her life: by taking over a treacherous postal route. As Mary becomes the first female mail carrier to traverse the cliff-hugging mountain trails and remote "crying sands" beach, with its changing tides and sudden squalls, she recaptures the spark she lost and discovers that a life without risk is no life at all.
