Jim Howard is dead, but can't let go of Jane, the love of his life. With God by his side, he watches his adult stepchildren, Honey and Dust, reunite for his funeral at the Howard Big House, the last pre-Civil War plantation home in Ellis County, Texas. During the week following his death, Jim is required to watch his stepchildren interact with Jane, their hippie-turned-fundamentalist mom, along with Harriett, his elderly, prejudiced mother who prides herself in being the Howard Big House/family historian, and Norma, his trying-to-get-out-of-the-closet daughter. When Norma stumbles upon a secret room, runaway slaves come out of the historical woodwork. As a result, both Jane and Harriett struggle to maintain the close-minded worlds they've created. As Jim watches the Howard Big House spring to life in a way he never imagined possible, reality turns upside down and the mysteries of the universe are revealed.