In the Fall of 1918, eleven year-old Lydia Pierce and her fourteen year-old brother, Daniel, find themselves suddenly orphaned by the Spanish flu epidemic.

Their grieving uncle takes them from their home in Portland, Maine to be raised in the Shaker community, where they are separated since males and females are not permitted to live together. Lydia, a fiercely independent girl, is forced to adjust to her new life and the restrictions placed upon her all on her own.