In a small, remote village in the Outer Scottish Hebrides, Kirsty yearns for adventure and another life across the ocean. Though she finds comfort in time spent with her mother and younger sister, she sees hope and a future with Murdo, an intelligent, curious poet. The two fall in love as World War I looms, and Murdo is soon conscripted to join the other men of the village to fight. As a gesture of farewell, the village hosts a road dance, a celebration attended by every resident, but this sense of community is soon shattered by an unspeakable incident that changes Kirsty's life forever.