Maggie Poinsett, hard-nosed photographer for National Geographic magazine doesn’t look or act like a ‘Sweet Magnolia’—the name her mother gave her…nor does she believe in ghosts.
But while on vacation with her parents at Golden Apple Farm, a bed-and-breakfast inn located in the mountains of western North Carolina, something happens that will forever change the way she feels about anything supernatural…she meets the ghost of Thomas MacKinlay, Civil War soldier shot for the crime of desertion.
After learning some of the MacKinlay family background from Miss Mac, Golden Apple’s proprietress who looks remarkably like Aunt Bea from television-famed Mayberry, Maggie is intrigued by the idea of going back in time through the rusty iron gate in order to keep Thomas from being shot…in essence, to change history. But time travel is impossible, right?
A full moon opens the rusty portal and Maggie finds herself thrust into the midst of our nation’s most deadly hour—the middle of the Civil War.
Chopping off her long hair and disguising herself as ‘Max’, she becomes Thomas’ assistant on one of the photography teams and heads to Charleston, South Carolina. It’s a risky move, but the only one which will allow her to keep a close eye on the would-be deserter. On the way they thwart the attempts of Fate James and his portly sidekick to hang a runaway slave. This act nets them not only Fate’s eternal hatred for their interference, but also some very deadly repercussions.
Thomas and Maggie (Max) continue their journey to Charleston, however, in the weeks they’re together, Maggie unintentionally falls in love with her partner. When he discovers he’s been tricked, she has some explaining to do.
While in Charleston, Maggie overhears the news that Thomas’ sister, Elizabeth has been captured as a Rebel spy and transported to Atlanta where her trial would be followed by swift ‘justice’ on the newly-built gallows. What follows is their reckless flight to Atlanta to save Elizabeth with the help of a Union army chaplain. With Atlanta is in flames behind them, they flee back toward the mountains and MacKinlay.
Thomas decides to return to the future with Maggie, but another meeting with Fate and Will stands in their way. A short ride on the storm-tossed river in a boat too weighted down with gold and greed almost spells Maggie’s doom.
The decision to return is taken out of Thomas’ hands and Maggie finds herself alone and heartbroken, though successful in her attempt to change history. Thomas was now resting in peace in the family’s cemetery, not roaming as a ghost. This fact is hardly balm for her aching heart.
An unexpected end helps Sweet Magnolia to ‘blossom.’
