In the 1890 thriving coastal town of Holliston, Maine, the leading
lumber baron’s son, Warren Brentwood, III, returns from his years away
at college and traveling to take up his position as heir apparent to his
father’s business empire.
Esperanza Estrada, daughter of a
Portuguese immigrant fisherman and a local woman, lives on the wrong
side of town, surrounded by a brood of brothers and sisters and a
careworn mother. She is unable to pretend she is anything but “one of
those Estradas.” When she overhears of a position to clean house at a
local high school teacher’s home on Elm Street, she jumps at the
opportunity–to be able to run into Warren Brentwood now and again, but
also to imbibe of the culture and intellectual atmosphere of the
Stocktons.
When rumors about Espy and her respected employer
begin to circulate, the entire church congregation and then the
community pronounce judgment on her behavior. Warren believes the lie
and his loss of faith in her causes Espy to give up without a fight. She
leaves her family and hometown for the nearest city with little money
and no acquaintances and is forced to spend the night on the street. A
man who heads a mission for the homeless finds Espy and offers her
shelter. Espy finds the true love of God while working at the mission.
Will she be able to forgive the townspeople and return home?