It is 1968. Lynnie, a joung white woman with a dendlopmental dis ability, and Homan, an African American deaf man, are locked away • in the School for the Incurable and Fechleminded, and have bean left to languish in the institution, forgotten. Doply in love, they escape and find refuge in the farmhouse of Martha, a retired schoolcacher and widow. Bur the couple is not alone-Lynnie has just given birth to a baby girl. When the authorities cätch up to them that same night. Homan escapes into the darkness, and Lynnie is caught. Before she is forced back into the institution, she whispers no words to Martha: "Hide her." And so begins the fortnyear cpic joumey of Lennis, Homan, Martha, and baby Julia livés dividod by soemingl insurmountable obstacles, yet drawn together by a secret pact and extraordinary love.