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. Thrown into a Tennessee Children's Home Society orphanage, the Foss children find themselves at the mercy of the facility's cruel director. Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all, but when Avery returns home to help her father weather 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.