After an agonizing two-year wait, Andrew Ferguson has returned to Roseland. Back on the remote island in the southern Atlantic where he once spent months studying the habits of the mysterious native auk, he now hopes to settle down and marry the love of his life, Roselander Rose Pascoe. But the island community won’t let him back in so easily. To prove his worth, Andrew has spent his absence learning about sustainable farming in hopes that becoming a useful member of the island community will allow him to stay. The Maskers, a pagan cult on the island with a history of violence to outsiders, are determined not to let that happen. Adding to his problems, Rose is the prime candidate for the role of Queen in an ancient rite on Midsummer’s Day…one that requires her to be unfaithful several times over. Andrew can only hope that the eccentric Clara has a plot to get them married in time. Will the Maskers succeed in undermining his efforts and force him off Roseland, or will Andrew fight to stay and be forced to watch as Rose lies with another man?
