Daniel, a brilliant lawyer who is about to become one of the state's youngest judges, is driving with his fiancé Jenny when they hit another car.

When four estranged brothers return home to say their last goodbye to their dying mother, Grace, hidden motivations reveal themselves. The family's already tenuous bonds are tested when secrets from Grace's past resurface, causing a restless night to go terribly awry as the brothers are thrust into a fight for their own survival.

Jack Flange leaves the big city for a respite in Australia's Hawkesbury River region, where generations of oyster fishermen (and maybe one woman) have made a living, built histories, and piled up grievances. Jack finds a small-town mentality, with pluses and minuses. There's also a recent burglary and lots of missing cash. Jack gets a job oystering; his boss is separated from a woman of invention, Jack's attracted to a chambermaid turned letter carrier, and there are plenty of mine fields for a city boy to step through. Jack also has a sister, who's ill, to worry about. It's a river journey of self discovery. Is he passing through, or has he found home?