In 1890s Pennsylvania, Clara Waltz is returning home from visiting ailing old Mrs. Snyder. She encounters a drunken man who, along with four others, had gang-raped her eleven years prior. Terrified, she flees on foot, hiding in a partially fallen tree along a riverbank. From within she sees an unknown tattered-looking man suddenly appear. A great fracas ensues. When all has quieted down, she crawls out and finds that the rapist has been murdered. The stranger is nowhere in sight.

Clara becomes a suspect with the discovery of yet another murder. He, too, was one she steadfastly accused of raping her. Soon an aging drifter comes to the farm where Clara and her illegitimate daughter live as domestic help to a prominent farm family. Clara finds herself being drawn to him, in spite of believing him to be the killer.

This first-person narrative is told through Clara's voice, as an older woman, as a legacy to her children. It's a tale of abuse and murder, but, ultimately, a tale of love and hope.