Everly Winthrop describes the story of her birth. Her mother, Harriet, is a socialite from Savannah, Georgia. Everly was born while her mother was taking a bath. Her father wants to name her Selkie, a mythological creature that is a beautiful woman on land but a seal in water. Storytelling and water follow Everly through childhood. Her grandfather, Papa, tells imaginative stories about shipwrecks, myths, monsters, pirates, and gods.

When Everly is six, Papa tells her and her sister, Allyn, about the shipwreck of the Pulaski, which happened 74 years prior. Lilly Forsyth, one of the survivors, seemed to disappear after the wreck. Every time Papa tells the story, what happens to Lilly changes. Sometimes she’s carried away by a giant bird or joins up with pirates to find treasure. This time, Papa explains that the Kraken (a mythical sea creature) heard the ship’s boiler explode and came up to save the victims. He says the Kraken offered Lilly all the jewels and treasure in the world if she went to India with him.

Harriet says Papa will give her daughters nightmares, but he protests that the girls are old enough to know what is real and what isn’t.