Battling the fierce Atlantic and steering his course between Rockbound's two warring clans -- the Jungs and the Krauses -- David slowly builds a life for himself. He marries and has a son, finds a soul mate in lighthouse keeper Gershom Born, and falls deeply (and secretly) in love with Mary, the island school teacher. But David does not count on the wicked cunning of his great-uncle Uriah, self-proclaimed ruler of Rockbound and his one true enemy. Shakespearean actor Richard Donat evokes the quiet majesty of this deeply allusive novel, imparting a rich resonance to the unique dialect of Day's Rockbounders.