1921, Georgia. The small town of Harlan was established fifty years before on the heels of the uncertain and unforgiving Reconstructionist era. Pulling together all they had, former white slave owners and newly freed slaves set aside their predjudices and their pasts to create a new community—one where race is the least of their problems. On a bleak Autumn evening, a young white boy named Geoffrey Pitts discovers that the beloved wife of the black Baptist Minister, Mrs. Celia Rose Richards, has stolen the only car in town and vanished without a trace. His parents, his teacher, the townsfolk—no one knows any specifics concerning this mysterious flight. With the aid of his friend and confidante, Taffy Prull, Geoffrey decides to find Celia Rose and uncover the truth about her disappearance. But in doing so, Geoffrey uncovers secrets of the town that will change Harlan forever. Missing Celia Rose is an examination of the limits of faith, the limits of love, and the limits of tolerance in the unforgiving world of a decimated South.