"Ann and Richard have established an equilibrium in their marriage, but all is not as it seems. One drought-stricken summer in the 1980's, they are spending time, as always, in their cottage on Lake Nigushi, Ann working on her painting, Richard contemplating a career in politics. Unexpectedly, Billy, the former chief of a local Ojibway band, returns home after a long absence. His sudden presence in their lives stirs old conflicts, obsessions, and recollections of betrayal. Ann finds herself preoccupied with memories of her first love and its unresolved end. Richard is cast back to the failed land claim that, ten years before, soured his own complicated relationship with Billy. The stories of each of their pasts, and of the memorable characters that inhabited them, unfold against a backdrop of environmental tragedgy, as a great forest is threatened by clear-cutting. As the momentum of summer builds, the resilience of a marriage is tested, Billy discovers the nature of what has been lost during his years away, and the shadow of irrevocable change falls across all their lives."--Inside front jacket.