Alexandria Dumont is a doctor of rehabilitation medicine working long hours at Regional Hospital as she finishes her residency. Lately, she hasn't had much time for a life. Her one treat is going to the flea market.

When she buys a portrait of an old Southern Plantation, she can't get over how intriguing the picture is. It is a beautiful plantation surrounded by live oaks draped in Spanish moss, but the reflection in the lake doesn't show its grandeur. It reflects a home burned to the ground. When she moves the portrait, a child's diary falls upon the bed and Alexandria begins to read.

The next morning when she finds herself in 1835 she figures she has finally gone off the deep end. Nothing makes sense. Alexandria is unsure why she has fallen back to 1835 until she meets a crippled child she knows she can help walk again. However convincing the child's brother, the arrogant Brad Wentworth, who hates doctors, that she can help his sister to walk again might be the biggest task that she has ever encountered.

As Alexandria sets about her task, she finds River Bends Plantation holds many secrets. Finding the answers to those secrets may cost her . . . her life.