In Sawgamet, a gold mining village gone bust, the cold of winter breaks the glass of the schoolhouse thermometer, and the dangers of working in the cuts are overshadowed by the mysteries and magic lurking in the woods.

On the eve of his mother's funeral, Stephen, a priest, sits to write her eulogy. It is thirty years since his grandfather returned to Sawgamet with a bundle of bones in search of his beloved, long-dead wife. As the evening turns into night and memories of his childhood begin to haunt him, like his grandfather Stephen must confront the losses of his - and Sawgamet's - past.