The adventures of Elvira, a 12-year-old girl obsessed with the sea who develops the ability to breathe underwater. Elvira and her dolphin friend Elvar meet a friendly whale, among other creatures, while back on land all is not as it should be.

In a little village at the end of the 1890's, a young woman offends all the 'right-thinking' villagers by allowing men in her house in the absence of her husband. When he is found dead, all of the suspicion is directed towards the liberal woman. She is judged more for her morality then for the crime she is accused of. Her culpability is still a subject of debate today.