Tempesta Luddington has always felt like the odd person out in her family, ever since she lost her beloved mother at the tender age of thirteen. When her father passes fifteen years later, Tempesta is not surprised that the majority of the considerable family money will pass to her dutiful younger brother, Wal. Still, she is left a modest remembrance from her mother and uses the money to buy a ramshackle manor house in Sainte-Colombe, where her mother had grown up. Through her mother and the village, Tempesta learns the value of community and friendship, the importance of self-confidence, and the power of love and trust.