Sophie Loveridge's family is uprooted from the comfort of their home in England when her eccentric father - inspired by the new novel, Robinson Crusoe - decides to move the family to the New World so he can write an epic poem about surviving the rugged winter conditions. When the only help they have - a skillful fisherman - dies, it is up to Sophie and her mother to make sure the family survives until the spring, when the next fishing boat will arrive in their isolated cove.