Egypt, 1964. The great temple at Abu Simbel must be dismantled and resurrected high above the rising waters of the Aswan Dam. This daunting task is overseen by Avery, a young engineer who, at the same time, is carefully building a life with his new wife, Jean. But not everything can be saved once the floodgates have opened- villages will be deluged, thousands will be exiled from their homes, and graves will be moved. And when Avery and Jean suffer a terrible loss of their own, they begin their separate journeys through the landscape of grief.
Weaving historical moments with the quiet intimacy of human lives, The Winter Vault is the story of a husband and a wife trying to find their way back to each other; of people and nations displaced; and of the myriad means by which we all seek out a place to call home.