 In the bayous near Savannah lives Annie, a widow with three young sons and a gift: she s clairvoyant, supporting her family by reading cards. Not long after she s menaced by Donnie Barksdale, the abusive husband of a client, the sultry daughter of a prominent citizen (and fiancée of the school principal) goes missing. Annie leads the police to the woman s watery grave, Donnie s pond. At the trial and after, Annie must sort through an attack on her credibility and her gift, knowledge of the dead woman s affairs, her own attraction to the principal, and a separate crisis brought on by the mental illness of one of her neighbors. The visions won t quit either: what if Donnie is innocent?