Ten-year-old Helen and her summer guardian, Flora, are isolated together in Helen's decaying family house while her father is doing secret war work in Oak Ridge during the final months of World War II. Helen is desperate to keep her house intact with all its ghosts and stories. Flora, her late mother's 22-year old first cousin, is ardently determined to do her best for Helen. Their relationship and its fallout will haunt Helen for the rest of her life.