On the Orkney shores in 1695, Malie has grown up believing her mother was a selkie, a woman who could shed her seal skin to live on land before returning to the sea. Her mother disappeared into the water, leaving Malie to be raised by a father whose rules she has always followed. Now married and expecting a baby, she seems set for a safe, predictable life in her isolated island community. Yet she feels a powerful pull towards the sea and an inner wildness that refuses to be controlled. Against a harsh Scottish landscape, Malie confronts grief, motherhood and female oppression as she questions the life prescribed for her and the story of her own origins.