Thirty-one year old Rose Chaney had been long estranged from home and family following her humiliating years growing up in Bannon’s Holler. But, after refusing to attend her mother’s funeral she is lured back home by the last living person who knows the secret of her birth and violent arrival in the Chaney family, the elusive Mr. Singer. Both Rose and her purposely avoided uncle, who narrates the book, are reluctant to re-live the traumatic events of the past. However, they both experience life-changes as they become ever more involved with the wealthy and terminally ill Mr. Singer and the secrets he protected for decades. A romance develops between Rose and the young and prominent attorney who is handling her mother’s estate. Their love rises and falls as Singer slowly relates the “Sweetheart Secret.” Two stories are taking place simultaneously; the long-ago and the present-day, both of which result in life-improving revelations for Rose, Unky, Singer, the attorney, and others.
