Margaret Elliot has lived a seemingly charmed life --- until the recent loss of her beloved husband. Since then, Margaret has been seeing visions of her aunt Edith, who raised her after her parents died when she was a baby. Margaret becomes convinced that Aunt Edith is trying to tell her something important. As she follows the clues that almost magically present themselves, it becomes clear there is a secret from Margaret’s past waiting to be uncovered. She also worries about her three grown children. Her eldest daughter, Mouse, continues to struggle with the grief of losing her father. Her son, Lawrie, faces life-altering changes that he both longs for and fears --- while Tom, Lawrie’s twin, must wrestle with the consequences of a work decision that has blown up his entire life. 

On the morning after Harry Cline’s funeral, a rare ice storm hits the town of Wesleyan, Georgia. The community wakes up to find its controversial statue of Confederate general Henry Benning destroyed --- and not by the weather. Half the town had wanted to remove the statue; the other half had wanted to preserve it. Now that the matter has been taken out of their hands, the town’s long-simmering tensions are laid bare. Without Harry beside her, Marietta is left to question many of her preconceived ideas about her friends and family. She longs to salvage these connections, but the world is changing and the divides can no longer be ignored.

Lila Bruce Breedlove never quite felt at home in Wesleyan, Georgia, especially after her father’s untimely demise when she was a child. Both Lila and her brother, Henry, fled north after high school, establishing fulfilling lives of their own. In contrast, their younger sister, Abigail, opted to remain behind to dote on their domineering, larger-than-life mother, Geneva. When their elderly mother dies suddenly and suspiciously in the muscadine arbor behind the family estate, Lila and Henry return to the town that essentially raised them. But as they uncover more about Geneva’s death, shocking truths are revealed that overturn the family’s history as they know it, sending the pair on an extraordinary journey to chase a truth that will dramatically alter the course of their lives.