Memphis 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi river shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge, until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee children’s home society orphanage, the foster children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents, but they quickly realize the dark truth. Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and priviledge, Avery Stafford seems to have it all a successful career, a handsome fiancé and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when she returns home to help her father, whether a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long hidden history on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.