Once upon a time, when it was still of use to cast a spell, the earliest Swavely women who settled on a hill in the North Woods knew why all the strange occurrences and coincidences in the family are so prevalent. Winifred Swavely was even there to witness the strange light that rolled out of the forest at the moment of her mother's death, and she taught her own daughters about the Swavelys' heritage as it had been passed down to her. The generations fly by, though, and pieces of knowledge are lost, hidden, or denied. Upon Violette Swavely's return to town, she tries to make sense of the bits of family lore that remain. She reaches a point where she must decide to embrace her family's preternatural lineage or turn away from her legacy completely.