Gillon is an American Southerner, but definitely not a Southern belle. An art historian, she takes a job in London largely to escape the family and social pressures of her home town, Charleston, South Carolina.
Once in London, she meets Tilly, the features editor on an arts magazine, and makes her first English friend. She also meets Henry, a wildlife photographer and Tilly's long-term boyfriend. Henry, like so many of his generation, can't commit to the one hing Tilly wants above everything - marriage. 
Inadvertently, Gillon offers Henry an escape - the chance to go and photograph the wonderful wildlife in South Carolina. Neither he nor she bargains on what he will find there, nor on the effect his departure will have on Tilly and the world he leaves behind.