Plot: A newspaper photographer, Jean, researches the lurid and sensational axe murder of two women in 1873 as an editorial tie-in with a brutal modern double murder. She discovers a cache of papers that appear to give an account of the murders by an eyewitness. The plot weaves between the narrative of the eyewitness and Jean's private struggle with jealousies and suspicions as her marriage teeters.

Tags: arranged marriage, axe murder, banishment, based on novel, based on true story, boarder, brother brother relationship, brother sister relationship, capital punishment, confession, death by drowning, fishing, immigrant, immoral love, incest, independent film, infertility, infidelity, island, marital relations, murder, murder trial, mystery, new england, norwegian american, ocean, photography, pulitzer prize, puppy, repression, sailing, seduction, sister in law, sister sister relationship, smoking, temptation, show all tags.