1991. Ash is a young artist grieving the death of her twin sister, Edie. She falls for local surfer Jay, who struggles with his identity and the turmoil of a childhood that rode the ups and downs of his father's gambling. Ash finds solace living with Jay and a gang of surfers in La Quinta , a dilapidated mansion on the Gold Coast. Far from her repressed family home in the Southern Highlands, Ash soon finds herself trapped in a suffocating relationship with Jay, who has subversively eroded her freedoms, isolating her from the outside world. Ash meets a strange young woman in the halls of the house, Nebraska, who is unspeakably beautiful and communicates using obscure phrases. Most extraordinarily, Nebraska goes unnoticed by the other house occupants. As Ash's relationship with Jay peaks in violence, the household Godhead, Tora, returns home after a long absence. Tora is immediately captivated by Ash, and a dangerous love triangle ensues. Tora is arrested during a police raid of their share house, leaving Ash hanging on a thread of hope that he will soon return. Ash waits for Tora while enduring the stormy seas of living with Jay, forcing Ash to fight for her freedom and face her past. Underscoring the most solemn times of the story, the narrator weaves through an exploration of Nebraska's emotional purgatory, as she longs for her living lover, Jay, that cannot see her. These revelations lead to the painfully beautiful resolution that ' love never dies' .