The novel is set for the most part in North Berwick opposite the eponymous Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth in Scotland, where three women are linked across the centuries, Sarah, Ruth and Viv. The novel is divided into a prologue and seven parts. Each part is made up of five palindromic chapters (I – II – III – II – I), with the Sarah segment at the centre bookended by Ruth's story and, at the outer ends, Viv's narrative. Interspersed in the narrative are brief vignettes, portraying violence against women.
