Danny Thorsen is a schoolteacher, and his new job has brought him to a tiny, near-barren island off the coast of Labrador. Only lichen and bloodflowers grow. The wind, cold, and sea are forbidding, but the village of forty-odd people and the Poorwillys, who give him lodging, cheer him all the same. On his first day, he sees an old man, Sick Jack, and his beautiful daughter, Adel. This is when Mrs. Poorwilly introduces him to their hamlet's superstition: Tragedy, she explains, occurs on their island in multiples of three. Indeed, one woman on the island has recently died of tuberculosis, and a few months later, a fisherman's death follows Sick Jack's. When the fisherman's wife commits suicide, his children live with the Poorwillys, who tell Danny that he is to live with Adel. The two grow closer, falling into a romantic relationship of sorts, until one week, Danny falls ill. He nearly dies, and upon his recovery, the Poorwillys tell him that he can't start teaching yet out of respect to his substitute's feelings. In the meantime, he and Adel decide to marry, and he decrees that they will begin transitioning away from the island. The harsh winter weather, however, prevents them from calling for a plane or boat. Danny grows increasingly agitated; he feels trapped. He even tries and fails to steal a boat. By late March, he allows himself to look forward to the first freight boat, but when, picking up a small bloodflower, he realizes that it will come two weeks into April, his heart sinks again. For the rest of the day, the image of thousands upon thousands of bloodflowers keeps spilling into his mind.