Iain Cosgrove is newly married to Jennifer Manson, daughter of a wealthy Scottish merchant. But Iain must soon leave for a research trip aboard the Lady Balgay, last of Dundee’s once-grand sealing fleet. Fueled by rum and the tales of John Pratt, the crew obsess over ancient superstitions; ones Iain casually dismisses as simple lore... until they reach the frigid Artic seas. When a string of accidents coincide with the recurring appearance of a female apparition, Iain’s beliefs are shaken. Then the ship discovers two castaways — one of them a woman — and events take a sinister turn.