In a bohemian mountain village in southern California, Karen grows up surrounded by free spirits and dissidents. The child of artists, her natural path is to become one, but her dreams call her out into the unfamiliar and dangerous world.

One day, while playing in a river, Karen suffers severe trauma. Panther, a dark figure, enters her dream life. Unseen, it stalks her cross country as young love carries her away to an old mansion in Key West, home of the colorful Elias family. Pregnancy, marriage, and an uncomfortable confinement follow, and the archetypal image of Panther continues to haunt her life. Will this mountain girl survive the larger world? Left alone in the old Victorian while her husband and his family pursue their various enterprises, she discovers a secret room in the attic-a ship's galley full of old books and maps. Here, a new dream figure-a native woman-emerges, revealing the story and secrets of the mansion and guiding Karen through the perils of Hurricane Betsy, an island murder, and her husband's disappearance.

Weaving together startling events and vivid dreams, Forever Tourmaline tells the story of Karen's unimaginable odyssey and its surprising conclusion.