Anna Broche is at the cusp of adulthood as a Shaker woman while the nation suffers through the upheaval of the Civil War. Her life is her community and the dancing that frees her spirit. A vision from an angel calls her to serve God, but the voice of a dying soldier who manages to crawl to safety makes her question her future.
Anna nurses wounded soldier Daniel Greenleaf back to health, and their forbidden attraction grows in her celibate, Shaker community. She is unsure of Daniel's feelings for her with only a stolen kiss between them. He returns to his home and waiting sweetheart and she to her life. But with a change of plans, Daniel ends up back in Anna's life again, and jealousy and calling war with love.