Alabama, 1947. A stifling heat has settled down on this tiny one-street town in the heart of the South. The residents resign themselves to the long months ahead, sipping lemonade, playing dominoes, going about their business, completely unaware that this will not be just another summer. For, one day, from the thick cloud of dust cast off by the six o'clock bus emerges a tiny figure, dressed in sky bluefrills, twirling a parasol on her shoulder. Lily Jane Bobbit, a mysterious thirteen-year-old girl, accompanied by her mute mother, seemingly appears from nowhere and sashays her way into the hearts and imaginations of the citizens of Abbeville. Two of Abbeville's youngest residents are particularly taken by Miss Bobbit's almost magical influence.