It's 1954 and Lillie's hard life has led to this: abandoned to a lonely hospital bed, ripped away from anything that matters to her. As her disease fully embraces her, she befriends a young nurse named Elizabeth who helps her find a way to face her awful past and protect those she leaves behind. On the other side of the country, Catherine believes she has broken free of her squalid Kentucky farm roots and moved on to life in a big city. But through all of life's twists and turns, and even as love gives Catherine a second chance, she wonders if she will ever fulfill her deepest longing.