It's late in the summer of 1989 and the body of twenty-two-year-old Joy Elliot Larson is about to be discovered on the bank of the Kawanee River.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
As a young mother living in her small hometown of Jasper, Mississippi, Joy lives paycheck to paycheck with her son, Jerry, and alcoholic husband, Carl. After enduring years of Carl's abuse, Joy reaches her breaking point when she discovers a large stash of money he's been keeping from her. With the encouragement of her twin sister, Joy takes the money, packs up Jerry, and goes on the run, determined to get as far away from Carl as possible. But Joy is not alone. Someone is following her. And it's only a matter of time before Joy will have to fight for her son... and her life.