The story is a romance set in 1980s Alaska. Through his love-at-first-sight romance with a gold miner’s daughter, the main character, Roy, discovers her native family. He reveals his ambition to become an artist, which endears him to his new girlfriend, but conflicts with his oil field job in the arctic. He begins to see ghosts and has strange dreams as he submerges himself into a culture he never knew existed. This book explores the matriarchal Alaska Native culture, through the strong female characters in this story. After committing to his new love, the "Honey Hole," is revealed to him, an incredible gold mine that renews itself every two years with gold nuggets. Sub-plots explore a murderous bad cop that attacks a true-life character driven out of Seward, Alaska, who finds healing for his mental illness in the wilderness along Salmon Creek.