In the same week in June, Samantha Sophia Schwerin celebrates her 22nd birthday alone, graduates from college, and has a great fortune bestowed upon her through unfortunate circumstances. For the past four years, she has been beset by attorneys, investigators, bankers, and questionable friends. She has glimpsed a part of a world she had never imagined.

Alone and apprehensive in a sea of humanity, contrary to the worldview her parents were nurturing, she seeks refuge in books.

On vacation at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, she is befriended by Edmund Jones, an elderly billionaire, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who perceives she is in danger, and she is taken to his secure estate-Lake House. Confidentiality is a principle at Lake House; the staff are on a need-to-know basis. A memo sent out regarding Samantha includes, "she is in trouble, through no fault of her own; we are to take care of her and keep her safe."

At the Jones estate, she meets the 17th-century Will and the 21st-century Will. Each, having a clash with the culture of his time, seeks refuge in an environment more attuned to his nature and worldview. The Jones family continues to be ahead of its time technologically but clings to the values and traditions of the past. How will the array of characters she meets in this environment help her through her profound grief and shape her life? How will she find meaning and a purpose to her life and the legacy that was entrusted to her?