1) The novel opens up with Lavinia Andrews, sat her back against a giant rock in the Newfoundland that they arrived at just shortly before. She's sat thinking about the past and the land they just sailed from but also trying to handle the land they just arrived at and foresee the future ahead of herself and her family. There's a number of characters introduced in the beginning including Ned, Hazel, Meg, Isaac, Ben, Lizzie, Patience and Emma. They also mentioned Ned's old boss Richard Ellsworth.
2) Lavinia Andrews is sat against a rock in the Newfoundland trying to make sense of what has just happened. After dragged from her home she knew all her life with hardly any notice and shipped off to a land that she had only heard of in Ned's stories, she has to learn to cope. This is what she try's to do when she gets to Newfoundland, she tries to find some comfort.
3) The Andrews family originally came from monk street, in Weymouth, England.
4) Ned Andrews worked for Richard Ellsworth on one of his ships. Ned ended up taking fish from the ship which he sold personally and kept the money for himself. So he not only got paid to fish but also took off the fish that wasn't his and made money on it as well.
5) Richard Ellsworth was a fish merchant.
6) Lavinia is a maid who works at the Ellsworth house for Mrs. John. Ned decides that hey are all going to pack their things and catch a ship to Newfoundland, before morning.
7) The voyage across the Atlantic ocean ended up being a five week trip, and it was unusually stormy. There were strong winds and they were all trapped in the hole with their belongings. Hazel ended up being sick and unable to take care of her children. Hazel ended up giving birth and the baby was so helpless, Ned had to throw it over board. The trip itself was a rough one and had, taken it's toll.
Their first encounter with people on shore was they almost appear unapproachable. The people on the wharf do not stir as the Andrews family unload their things from the ship.