John Russell is an emotionally broken man at the age of 27 when he accepts the position of lighthouse keeper in 1923. In desperate need of a place where he can hopefully come to terms with the unfortunate decisions he has made in his life, the solitude he hopes to find in the Willamette River Lighthouse may be the one place where he will be able to rest and, hopefully, through quiet reflection and the passing of time, he will learn to forgive himself those decisions. It is John Russell's plan to spend a year or three above the confluence of the mighty Columbia and Willamette Rivers at the north end of Portland, healing in the quiet sanctuary of the lighthouse built on stilts. But, as it always has been in his life, those plans soon change, and he finds himself spending years above the turbulent waters until he wonders if the lighthouse is still a sanctuary or has it become a prison. Set in the early part of the 20th century, the busy port of Portland, Oregon, sends grain and lumber all over the world. Ships sail the waters past his lighthouse in great numbers. But they are not alone on the rivers. River pirates, Shanghaied sailors, brothel barges, opium and bootleg liquor, floating bodies all share space with the laden ships. And something else is on the rivers. Something that will keep John Russell in the lighthouse for years. Something that will almost destroy him, before giving him the courage to re-enter a world he navigated poorly.