Nellie's mother, Ella, died when Nellie was a child—or so she was told. Her quiet life as a reporter in Nashville is turned upside down when on assignment at a homeless shelter where she learns her mother has been found dead. Confused and betrayed, Nellie sets out for answers by volunteering to report on a new law threatening to criminalize homelessness, even if doing so means crossing ethical lines.

With the help of a coworker who quickly knocks down Nellie's walls and becomes something more, Nellie risks her job, her own understanding of herself and the world to find out how her mother ended up living and dying on the streets of the very city Nellie calls home.

In the 1990s, Ella fled home to start a new life in Nashville. When she meets Dan, she thinks she has found a path to safety and normalcy. Despite her marriage and the birth of her daughter, she remains haunted by the darkness in her past. As all the pieces of her life begin slipping from her grasp, she faces an impossible choice about her past, her future, and the life of her daughter.