Willow Valley, Illinois, 1862 When Emma Persinger's husband, James, is off fighting during the American Civil War, she undergoes a special ritual so that she can spend forever with her beloved sweetheart. What she doesn't anticipate is how the war has changed James' thoughts about life and has endangered their son. Willow Valley, Illinois, 2014 Alice Messner has just graduated from high school. But without plans to go to college, she is growing incredibly frustrated with live in the small town she grew up in, until she meets a boy about her age who has escaped life in the cult-like farm a few miles outside town.