In 1950s Tennessee, an unmarried woman in her early thirties was considered an old maid, a label Ivorie Walker embraces with good-natured humor—until the death of her parents. Fiercely independent, Ivorie hides her increasing loneliness from concerned relatives by working long days in her prized vegetable garden. But rather than being outraged when she discovers a frightened, feral little boy from the hills stealing her produce, Ivorie is touched—and determined to learn his story.

Donna VanLiere’s poignant tale, The Good Dream, is a story about two lost souls: one a boy living an unimaginable nightmare and the other a woman whose maternal instinct unleashes a firestorm in a town that would rather keep hidden their shameful secrets.