In a small town swollen with secrets, a young boy puzzles his way through a minefield of societal expectations and Southern Baptist status quo. Ben Bramley has been granted an idyllic upbringing in a scenic mountain hamlet. With one set of grandparents living next door and the other a mile away, both family lines are involved in the area's widespread apple-growing heritage. But within this close-knit community, privacy is an illusion. When the promises of his faith fail him, Ben struggles alone with an unrecognizable life and becomes the unwitting repository of weighty secrets. Complex relationships fuel a story in which hypocrisy is an art form, change is impossible, and love is destructive.