In 1915, young newlywed Olivia Fitzpatrick leaves her affluent Seattle family to join her husband Frank in the isolated and tight-knit seaside mining community of Britannia Beach, Canada.

Olivia has always gone against the grain with her choices in life, but as she boards a vessel bound for a foreign country she has never visited, she knows her life is about to change forever. Frank and Olivia share a loving and intimate reunion after her ship docks in Britannia Beach, but before she has a chance to enjoy her new-found happiness, many of the town's friendly citizens and their children are killed in a horrific natural disaster. A tragic mudslide triggers a series of events that soon befall the young Olivia and the close community that she has joined. Among the members of that community whom she will encounter are the fiery redhead Lucy Bentall; ship captain Frenchie Cates; the always surprising Yada family; handsome Officer Wolanski; man-crazy Sarah Leiboldt; and the fearsome J. W. McMichael.

In spite of catastrophes, flu epidemics, and the chaos of World War I, Olivia is determined to continue her life in Britannia Beach, but fate may have other plans.