The Carter family has lived for countless generations in the same rural Mississippi town, hours out from Jackson. Their situation is marred by death: Mr. Carter's sister, Emma, had killed herself in heartbreak many years ago, and later his wife had suffered a miscarriage. Now they live with their nine-year-old daughter, Sophia, but Mrs. Carter would never recover from the past. Though she is inconsolable, Mr. Carter attempts to save his neighbor,...