Lucy Benson is nearly grown and eager to leave her small Alabama town. She knows her mother loves her, but she cannot understand why Molly is so determined to keep her close. Then Molly brings out two old notebooks and begins a story she has never told her daughter.

The pages lead to Winston County, where Molly once met a woman whose roses were known far beyond her garden gate. Lucinda Barker Curtis has lived through a war, lost people she loved, and kept memories few others are willing to speak aloud. As Lucy listens, she begins to hear a different story beneath her mother’s warnings.