In sleepy Salty Creek, Georgia, strangers are rare. When a quiet, unassuming stranger arrives-a Japanese man with a secret history of his own-he becomes the talk of the town and a new beginning for lonely Sophie, who lost her first love during World War I.

Middle-aged Sophie had resigned herself to a passionless existence. That all begins to change as she finds herself drawn to the mysterious Mr. Oto. When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Mr. Oto's newfound life comes under siege; his safety, even in Salty Creek, is no longer certain. Sophie must decide how much she is willing to risk for a future with the man who has brought such joy into her life.