When seventeen-year-old John Hudson sets sail aboard the Discovery with his father, Henry Hudson, he is eager to explore the open seas and the New World. He is not, however, anxious to leave behind his girlfriend, Isabella Digges, a nobleman's daughter. But Isabella has adventures of her own in store as an undercover spy for the king. And while Richard Hudson simply wants his older brother, John, to come home to London, John's shipmate Seth Syms is desperate to avoid returning to the city any time soon.

The key to their futures lies in the hands of John's father. But as Henry Hudson's obsession to find the Northwest Passage to Asia grows, so does the unrest of those around him -- both at sea and at home. Letters, diary entries, and personal narratives spill mutinous and surprising secrets, while revealing a struggle of hope, heartbreak, and survival.

Through the use of four alternating viewpoints, Kathleen Benner Duble brings historical and fictional personalities to life, showing the widespread waves of one real-life and unpredictable voyage.