Avatar (Avey) Johnson is a West Indian-American widow in her 60s. Affluent, secure, she has lost touch with her Caribbean origins. After her husband dies, however, Avey goes on a West Indian cruise and begins having anxious dreams about a great-great-aunt. She makes plans to escape her anxiety by returning to New York City; while waiting for her flight, she relives memories of her marriage and how distanced she and her husband had both grown even from their own private ceremonies and gestures. The following day, Avey travels to another island where she participates in an ancestral celebration, and begins a spiritual transformation.