Hidden latitudes

A husband and wife on a round-the-world voyage are forced to shelter in the lagoon of a small, unmapped atoll after a long stretch of windless Pacific water. They plan to repair their engine there, assuming the island is empty. It is not: a woman has been marooned on the strip of land for more than four decades.

Her history comes out slowly, offering clues to who she might be and recounting a life marked by romance, loss, hardship and loneliness, until she eventually came to love the island's tropical setting. Running alongside is the couple's effort to mend their boat and give their journey back a sense of purpose. Their shared dream of calm seas and closeness has instead produced friction in their marriage, and an old disagreement over whether to start a family weighs on them.

As they grow further apart, the castaway watches them and leaves puzzling traces of her presence, torn over whether to reveal herself and risk a return to society. Before she decides, a storm gathers that could change the course of all their lives.