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In 1886 Cornwall, an artist from the Newlyn School paints a portrait of a striking woman, Claira, the wife of a Methodist farmer. In the painting, Claira basks in the luminescence of a woodland sunset, violin in hand, the still air holding the notes she has just played.

In 1986, Claire, a painter, and her husband settle with their two boys in the Cornish farmhouse where Claira once lived. As Claire falls in love with the rugged landscape -- and her husband with another woman -- Claire makes two discoveries that change her as a woman and as a painter.

The lives that fill this elegant novel are a testament to the powerful ways that sensual discovery, creativity, and the experience of marriage connect women across time.

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