With her passion for the past, Dr. Caitriona Ni Donoghue comes to the German coast of the North Sea to write a memoir about her foremothers. A chance discovery leads her instead to a sixteenth-century forefather who sailed a ferry between the mainland and a nearby island. Edde the Ferryman captures her imagination, and when she learns that he left behind a trail of artifacts, she sets off to follow. But where will the trail lead? And why does she feel so drawn to Edde and his sons—and later, to Sibbrich, his young daughter? Do vital clues about the present lie buried in the past? 

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    This is the ancient homeland of the Frisians, and while Kate searches for answers, the coastal landscape casts its spell. Water spirits converse with her as easily as cousins share local lore. Gradually, as the play’s scenes alternate between the present and the 1500s, Kate comes upon the answers she needs, and lingering griefs begin to heal. Sea levels are rising, though, and the murderous North Sea will have the last word.