Summer Lies and Blackberry Pies

In the summer of 1968, seventeen-year-old Shelby Montgomery returns to her family's summer home in a small Mississippi town shadowed by the Vietnam War. She expects a quiet season of garden parties, but everything changes when she meets River Martin, a soulful blues singer from the working-class side of town. Their connection is immediate, yet Shelby knows her mother would disapprove of the relationship. With help from her best friend Liberty, Shelby keeps the romance secret, stealing moments with River away from town gossip. The summer unravels when a local girl connected to River is found dead in Grover's Pond, bringing suspicion and scandal that threatens to expose everything. As secrets surface and the town grows restless, the Vietnam draft looms larger. When River's number is called, Shelby confronts the painful reality that some first loves are as temporary as summer itself.