Miss Zula Bragg, award-winning writer in residence at Ogilvie College in Ogilvie, Georgia, has finally said yes to a documentary about her life. She insists that Tied to the Tracks, a shoestring film company from up North produce it-because, she says, they have an edge. So the entire company is summoned to Ogilvie-Angie Mangiamele, who writes, produces, and keeps it all together; Rivera Rosenblum, who photographs and edits; and Tony Russo, principal photographer and soundman. Only Angie is reluctant to head south because the new chair of the English department at Ogilvie is John Grant, and John and Angie have a fiery past.

A member of the founding Ogilvie family on his mother's side, John has finally returned home after years "up North" to take up his place in the community and to marry the lovely Caroline Rose, the last unmarried daughter of the prominent Rose family in what Ogilvie residents regard as the wedding of the century. The town-rich with tradition and rife with gossip-is fascinated by the three Yankees, but when it seems as though sparks still fly between John and Angie, the townsfolk rally to protect their own.