On a cold night in 1877, Laurel Whitman's father flies into a rage and throws her into the street. His behavior isn't unusual; he has ridiculed her for years, and Laurel doesn't understand why. All she knows is that his vitriol has something to do with her grandmother, a woman shrouded in mystery. Laurel goes on a harrowing journey from her home in Philadelphia to Maryland only to discover that her grandmother is on death's door. She is welcomed with open arms by her extended family but receives a chilly reception from her grandmother who seems suspicious of Laurel's arrival. Over the next few weeks, her grandmother recovers and her distrust begins to thaw as she tells Laurel stories of her abusive first husband, the young immigrant whom she came to love, and the birth of her two illegitimate children. Laurel learns the secrets of her family's fractured past, a story of resilience, deception, and forbidden passion that forces Laurel to confront the truths in her own heart. But will unearthing long-buried secrets heal the rift between Laurel and her father, or will the past haunt the present and the future forever?