Growing up in West Virginia, young Bennie, orphaned at seven years of age, knows of his dead young aunt only through a single photograph and the hush-hush talk of suicide by family members. While coming of age in a domineering household, suspicions arise as to why such a beautiful girl of eighteen would end her life. Inspired by his grandmother's zest for him to learn everything for the wonder of it and aided by a teacher, he works to enter college. There at the University of Virginia, a new life and another death await him along with new revelations of his young aunt's death.