Determined to get accepted into Harvard, Porter Miller decides to begin her freshman studies at the University of Virginia and then apply for a transfer. Thinking that she can switch programs once she arrives on campus, she enrolls in nursing school merely as a formality. To Porter's surprise, she learns that she must continue in the nursing school for her first semester. While working at the medical center one evening, Porter tends to Thomas Lancaster, a cancer patient at the university hospital. Thomas's kindness and down-to-earth ways captivate her, and the two become romantically involved. But in the course of her relationship with Thomas, Porter makes a startling discovery about her family-one that could sever her relationship with Thomas forever.
"Small Surrenders" focuses on the rippling effects of moral turpitude and how past mistakes can resurface to ruin two entire families. But it is also a story of faith, forgiveness, and survival as Porter works through the aftermath of her devastating discovery.