A fabulously rich and absorbing story of long-hidden family secrets. The year of 1936 is drawing to a close. Winter grips Westmoreland and causes a rare phenomenon: the lakes freeze. For two local families, the Richardsons and the Grindleys, this will bring unexpected upheaval, as the frozen lake entices long-estranged siblings and children to return home for the holiday season. Childhood friendships are rekindled, old rivalries resurface and new relationships sparkle with possibilities. Everyone's keen to put aside their troubles - money worries, love tangles, career problems, domestic rifts - and enjoy themselves skating while they can. But one visitor carries the seed of violence and not even the redoubtable matriarch of the Richardson clan can prevent the carefully buried secrets of the past from reappearing and transforming everything.