The year is 1890. Iris is 8 years old and lives in Stockholm with her mother Ester, who is an artist. Iris is precocious and experienced in the ways of the world. She feels at home among her mother's modern artist friends. Now she is waiting for the big adventure; Ester's exhibition in Paris.On the day of the departure, Iris is shocked to find out that she will not be going to Paris. When the proposed child minders cannot look after her as planned, she is sent by mail boat to Åland; a place she knows nothing about.The person sailing the boat is Elias, her uncle. Iris has never heard of Elias before and he has never known that he has a niece. On a whole, Iris' family history seems full of secrets and lies. Whose was the dead baby who appears in paintings both here and there? And who was Iris' father? Iris, who is doubly disappointed in her mother, tells Elias and his wife Jolanda that Ester is dead.Elias and Jolanda are poor and they are not equipped to take care of a spoiled city kid. Iris suffers. Her only friend is a piglet called Siri, which she dresses up in laces and a tiara; much to Elias' chagrin and to the joy of the villagers.The captain's widow, Helena, and her children are especially mean to her. Iris and the captain's daughter, Sofia, become friends after a dramatic drowning incident on Midsummer Eve. The friendship is threatened though, when the mysterious name of Morgan Jansson (the same name that Iris' mother uses to sign her paintings), turns out to be an unknown link between Iris and Sofia.During a stormy night on Morgan Jansson's islet, Iris is forced to realize who she is and where she belongs, while Ester braves the wind and the waves to fetch her child home.