Only the most peculiar fate could link the star-crossed Riconni family of New York with the dirt-poor Powells of the Georgia Mountains. Little do Ursula Powell and Quentin Riconni know that a strange and abstract iron sculpture of a bear will draw them together. They have nothing in common except the power that the Bear has in both their lives. The sculpture, which now sits in the backyard of Ursula's secluded mountain farm, is worth a fortune. When Quentin leaves New York for the small Southern town to reclaim his father's sculpture, what he discovers is that when it comes to the heart, to destiny, to fate, the price paid cannot be measured in millions.