The narration of 1927 lets us hear the ovices of Fred and Chrissie. Fred comes to St Kilda with Archie, and at first Chrissie is besotted with Archie. Fred has fallen for her, and when the summer advances, Chrissie starts to realise what kind of person Archie is and she starts to have feelings for Fred. There is an event that affects the community. Lachie, one of the young boys, falls from the cliff and dies. Callum, Chrissie's brother, says it was his fault because he did not secure the rope. That haunts him and he eventually leaves St Kilda. Before leaving, he tells Chrissie that it was actually Archie who caused Lachie's fall, but Callum makes Chrissie to promise never to tell.
Archie leaves for a few weeks, and during that time Chrissie and Fred confess their love and become close. When Archie returns, he guesses that Fred and Chrissie are now more than friends, and he is not pleased. He tells Fred that Chrissie will never leave St Kilda, and he can't consider staying on the island. So he wants Fred to leave with him, but Fred refuses.
Then Archie goes to see Chrissie and tries to force himself on her, but she manages to defend herself. When Archie is with Fred, he tells him that Chrissie tried to seduce him. When Fred goes to see Chrissie, she won't see him, and Fred decides to leave. I find this disagreement lacking credibility. I think this is a weak point in the novel.
Chrissie hopes that Fred will return and write, but he never does. Shortly afterwards she discovers that she is pregnant. Ewan Ian, who has always held a candle for her, asks her to marry him and he will raise the child as his own, but she refuses. Chrissie gives birth to her daughter, who she names after her grandmother. People start getting sick, and her father dies. In 1930 the government agree to evacuate the remaining inhabitants of the island.
In present time, which is 1941, Fred travels with the resistance, trying to reach Spain. In one of the safe houses he discovers Archie is one of the men. Because of his past, Fred does not trust him completely, and when he is todl that there is a mole, he suspects Archie, but the man who leads the resistance unit tells him that he trusts Archie completely. When Archie leads him and his fellow Angus, he admits that he was wrong about Chrissie, and he confesses what he did. He also tells him that Chrissie has Fred's daughter, and he tells him where she and the girl live. So Fred intends to write to them. Then Archie is shot when he comes between Fred and a bullet, and he dies.
In Scotland Chrissie and Rachel Anne get a letter from the church who tell them that Fred is alive. They don't know what this means and why they wrote to her. In any case, this is good news.
I have to say that I am finding the book heavy going, and even though I enjoy parts of it, there are other parts which I find weak.
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