A lonely woman with a life-long feeling of not quite belonging elopes with a child psychologist she met at a conference and discovers how difficult it is to actually escape her past.

Breaking her vow never to return to the Mississippi Delta, Vivien Walker heads home to find her dear grandmother dead and her estranged mother showing signs of senility.

From the time she was twelve, Julie Holt knew what a random tragedy can do to a family. At that tender age, her little sister disappeared-never to be found. It was a loss that slowly eroded the family bonds she once relied on. As an adult with a prestigious job in the arts, Julie meets a struggling artist who reminds her so much of her sister, she can't help feeling protective. It is a friendship that begins a long and painful process of healing for...