The novel opens on the night of an ominous storm. Omishto witnesses her Aunt Ama kill a panther - an animal considered to be a sacred ancestor of the Taiga people.

That single act will have profound consequences for Omishto. Suddenly, she is torn between her loyalties to her Westernized mother, who wants her to reject the ways of the tribe, and to Ama and her traditional people, for whom the killing of the panther takes on grave importance. But Omishto's quest in this timeless, lyrical novel goes far deeper.

As she tries to understand the mystery that lies behind Ama's actions, she must reckon with her own spiritual connection to her people, to nature, and to the world itself.