Billie James inherits a shack in the Mississippi Delta, once belonging to her father, a notable black poet who passed away when she was merely four. Having no recollection of the day her father died—an event she witnessed—Billie has stayed away from the South ever since. Decades later, she returns to find the place disturbingly isolated with neighbors whose histories are intertwined with hers since the slavery era. A rumor unsettles her: she supposedly went missing on the day of her father's death. As Billie digs deeper, she uncovers family secrets and the reality of her father's demise, revealing the festering wounds of a family and a nation that converged on that fateful day. Her search for truth not only unveils the long-submerged injustices but also poses a threat to her present safety, as someone wants the past to remain buried.