In the seaside hamlet of Mackerel Sky, Maine, the interwoven lives of its residents are as layered and tumultuous as the town's storied past. Three centuries ago, Captain Burrbank laid eyes on Nimuë the Mermaid, and in his yearning, anchored the ship that would father a town. Time has matured Mackerel Sky into a haven both enshrined by its maritime myths and scarred by personal tragedies. Stories converge: Myra Kelley, a gritty widow, unwittingly becomes young Leo Beale's protector as he shirks his reality marred by his mother's addiction. Derrick Stowe, high school's baseball star, grapples with unveiling his true identity and love amid the suffocating narrowness of small-town mentality. Manon Perle's exquisite quilts narrate the legend's agony, masking her personal loss to the demanding sea. As the town faces the test of time, its inhabitants must draw upon the very lore that defines them to secure the future of Mackerel Sky.