From the summer of my twelfth year, I carry a series of images within me that are more vivid and lasting than all others from my childhood and imperishable, despite all the attempts of the years to erase or fade them. Thus begins the story of David Hayden, what happened in 1948 in Montana. The events of that catastrophic summer forever alter David's understanding of his family: his father, a sheriff from a small town; his remarkably strong mother; David's Uncle Frank, a war hero and respected doctor; and the Sioux housekeeper of the Haydens, Marie Little Soldier, whose revelations turn the family's life upside down as she tells how Frank has harassed his female Native American patients. As their story unfolds around David, he learns that the truth is not what one believes, that power is abused, and that sometimes one must choose between family loyalty and justice.