Coastal Maine in 1920 is an unusual cross section of artists, bootleggers and fishermen. Traditional landscape artists butt heads and ideologies with the new "Modern" art school (and house of ill repute) run by noted art critic Valentine Meadows. Longtime residents trade in lobstering for smuggling when it becomes clear there is a fortune to be made in booze and drugs. Local law enforcement tries to keep tabs, but doesn't want to become too involved. Into this whirlwind comes Holly, a beautiful young college student working for the summer as an artist's model at Meadows' school. More than a pretty face, Holly soon becomes indispensable to Meadows as his personal assistant, and uses both her looks and her quick wits to navigate the increasingly complicated world she finds herself in.