It's 1993 in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the people of Canada's tenth province are suffering from the closure of the cod fishery the year before. Overfishing has decimated the plentiful cod stocks which had sustained the people and the economy of Newfoundland for nearly five centuries. The province is in shock: suicide rates are going up; alcohol consumption, which was near the roof anyway, is about to go through it.

The provincial government decides to hire a psychologist from Chicago, Dr. Patricia Delmont, to run a pilot program in Setback, a small outport miles from nowhere. An expert in psychological problems caused by economic upheaval, Delmont's job will be to provide counselling to the local fish plant workers, fishermen, fisherwomen, and their families.

When she arrives in Setback, culture shock, murder and the Newfoundland weather nearly send Dr. Delmont over the edge herself. She manages to hang on, but only because the cold, wind-swept island in the North Atlantic has a heart of gold under its granite exterior.