In 1883, life is simple for two sisters who live on a farm outside the Quaker village of Hadley, Indiana. The girls go to school in a one room school house and study in the light of coal oil lamps. Their father has Bible reading and evening prayer before they retire to bed. Farm life is hard, but their religious beliefs are comforting. The days continue, until the older sister, Mattie, accepts a proposal of marriage. Young Livvy expects life on the farm to change when her sister gets married. Change strikes sooner than anyone expected. When her Mattie is murdered before her eyes, Livvy goes into a state of shock and lies in a coma for three days. When she awakens, she has no memories of what has happened to her beloved Mattie. She doesn't remember that she had a sister at all. For five years, the ghost of her sister appears to her. She accepts the ghost as a guardian angel who watches over her. When Livvy is on the brink of getting married herself, the truth of Mattie's murder is reveled.