When Lester lost his job at a horse carriage shop in the North Central Virginian community of Viewtown in 1879, he felt obligated to leave his family and work a great distance from home on the Chesapeake Bay to support them. After departing, his wife, Clara, ultimately ends up living alone on their rural farm, creating within her a sense of despondency and resentment. This nineteenth-century family trauma in conjunction has a dramatic effect on another couple living in 2011 Northeastern Ohio.

Sara, the modern-day wife, begins to exhibit distant and odd behavior, causing her recently married husband, Tim, to be at a loss for any explanation why. The two separate time zone couples lives unconsciously interact, eventually leading to Lester and Tim uncovering a stunning enlightenment.