Twenty-four years after her marriage to the Baron of Sweehold, Karina returns to the manor that shaped and nearly ruined her life. The gardens are as still as ever, the clock in the hall still ticks too slowly, and the brandy still tastes of something bitter. As she moves through the house's polished halls, she finds herself walking the fine line between memory and reckoning.

In a Paris atelier at the height of the 19th century, Clemence poses for an artist who insists he understands the women he paints. As he transforms her likeness into a vision of idealized beauty, Clemence comes to see how art can distort as much as it reveals.

Following her grandmother's death, Tess goes back to her childhood home to sort out her grandmother's affairs. Inside she finds secrets about her family and begins to question: Even if she left the swamp, did she ever truly leave?