Karemoana was the final destination of Manfred Signal, retired teacher of drawing, whose life was dedicated to nursing her dying mother, and instructing generations of young girls in the art of accurately depicting shadows. But now her mother has died and Manfred feels free to break away and begin life anew. She journeys ‘up north’, and begins to settle in her idyllic island home in a little white cottage near the sea. She had looked forward to savouring the feeling of aloneness, but her first long night in her new home is one of terror.