Sylvie can hardly bear to remember how normal her family was two years ago. The night an oncoming vehicle forced their car over the edge of a covered bridge changed them forever: Sylvie's young son was gone, her husband lost his legs, and she was left with shattering blame and grief.

Eleven-year-old Ruby misses her little brother, too. But she also misses the mother who has become a recluse while Ruby and her dad try to piece themselves back together.

As Hurricane Irene bears down on them, and a pregnant teenager with a devastating secret gradually draws Sylvie back into the world, Ruby and her mother will have a chance to span the fissure separating them.