In a small, remote Canadian town, Susan Baker and son, Jamie, are trying to piece together their lives shattered by the accidental death of Susan's husband. Jamie, deeply traumatised, has not spoken since that fateful day. Things are tough enough; but then a new neighbour moves in.
The return of Michael Somers to Little River Bend after a prolonged absence causes feelings to run high among the tight-knit community, and Susan is drawn unwillingly into a complex drama with origins twenty yeas old. Fiercely protective of Jamie, and wary of a man whose early life is the subject of countless rumours, she is nevertheless witness to a slowly developing relationship between her neighbour and her son, after Michael has rescued a rare falcon injured by a hunter.
Absorbed by the plight of the beautiful wild bird, while all around are caught up in the small town's rivalries and intrigues, two people who thought they'd never feel anything but hurt gradually come to confront the possibility of healing, change, and hope.
