P.D. Callahan jumps into the hardscrabble world of Maine herring fishing in 1972. As he dives deep into the darkness and cruelty of fishing to make money, he realizes that he has walked through a secret doorway, a portal to another reality, a place where knowledge stems from the physical world, the corrosive and creative force of the sea, the emotional act of catching something alive and selling it for food and money, and living to the next day and the next day. But tension strains his recent marriage as his girlfriend-turned-wife struggles with the harshness of their everyday existence. The...