In perpetually foggy Ipsitfel, the bodies of the dead are lowered through a hole in the ground to appease an ancient agreement protecting the townsfolk.

When Theo's parents die, however, he's incapable of letting them go. After all, if he hadn't been shirking his responsibilities, he would've been with them when the fire claimed their lives and their home. Determined to make things right, he vows to resurrect them by following their bodies through the hole, into the underworld - a vast ocean with islands guarded by powerful beings, some friendly and some fiendish.

There he meets Demeres, a ferrywoman who may be his only chance of finding his parents and bringing them safely above ground. But navigating the perilous waters without attracting Death's watchful eye proves more difficult than he imagined, and the longer he takes, the more tenuous the connection between his parents' souls and the world of the living becomes.