Fifteen years have passed with only the exchange of letters among three families connected by love and misfortune. Now remnants of these families reunite when May Rose follows her reckless stepdaughter Wanda to a West Virginia ghost town.

The town has not been kind to either woman, but Wanda is determined to go back and capture the heart of a man who rejected her. Barlow Townsend has come into May Rose's life again, yet like her, he is constrained by guilt.

A town of three households offers little to sustain them, but a looming war in Europe promises prosperity in the form of black gold. To restore the town and remake their lives, all who return will have to break the chains of the past.