Plot summary
The novel opens with Annie Casteel Stonewall returning to Farthinggale Manor ("Farthy") for the funeral of her father, Troy Tatterton. Hoping to finally put the past to rest, Annie feels drawn to the suite that used to be occupied by her great-grandmother, Jillian. There she discovers an old diary hidden in a back drawer. The diary belonged to Leigh Van Voreen, Annie's grandmother and Heaven's mother. Surprised by the discovery, Annie begins to read the tragic story of Leigh.
In 1950, 12-year-old Leigh Van Voreen lives in Boston with her father, cruise-ship magnate Cleave Van Voreen, and her mother, Jillian, a beautiful socialite. Leigh's happy life was shattered when her mother left her father for a younger man, Tony Tatterton, the wealthy owner of Tatterton Toys. When Jillian married Tony, she and Leigh moved to Tony's estate, Farthinggale Manor. Leigh's only friend on the estate was Troy Tatterton, Tony's 4-year-old brother, and they spent a lot of time together. Eventually, Leigh was placed in Winterhaven, an exclusive boarding school for girls.
During summer vacation, Leigh served as the model for a new line of toys that would be called portrait dolls. During the modeling sessions, Tony had Leigh pose nude and started making advances towards her. He claimed Jillian had refused to have a sexual relationship with him, saying it would ruin her face and figure. Leigh went to Cleave to ask for help, but he had remarried and was too busy with his new wife and work to listen to her problems. Leigh told Jillian what was happening, but Jillian accused her of exaggerating. After the doll was finished, it was presented to Leigh on her birthday. Soon afterwards, Tony raped Leigh one night while Jillian was away but acted like nothing had happened the next morning. Leigh hid in Jillian's room with the door locked, but she discovered Tony already had a key, made when Jillian rejected his advances. He attacked Leigh again, and when Leigh tried to threaten him with her mother, Tony laughingly told her that this was Jillian's idea. When Jillian returned, Leigh tried to tell her that Tony raped her, but Jillian accused Leigh of lying, saying that Tony had told her Leigh was the one making advances during the modeling sessions and that she had tried to get Tony to have sex with her. Leigh was shocked and saddened by her mother's decision to believe Tony over her own daughter.
A few weeks later, Leigh discovered she was pregnant. When she told her mother, Jillian screamed at her that "nice girls don't go all the way." Leigh realized Tony had been right and Jillian had chosen her own daughter as a substitute for Tony to avoid having sex with him. Leigh fled Farthinggale with a few possessions, some money, and her portrait doll. Intending to live with her grandmother Jana in Texas, Leigh purchased a train ticket in Atlanta but missed her connection and was stranded. A stranger named Luke Casteel cheered her up. After he inquired about Leigh's portrait doll, she admitted that it was modeled after her and that she had named it Angel. Luke told her that "Angel" was a better name for her than Leigh, and called Leigh "Angel" after that.
Leigh confided in Luke about the circumstances of her pregnancy and her tragic story, and he drove her to a motel so that she could rest. He returned with some food, and when Leigh asked him to stay because she was afraid to be alone, he agreed. When she woke up in the middle of the night, Luke told her that he had fallen in love with her and wanted to be the father of her baby. Leigh thought she was dreaming, and when she later woke in Luke's arms, she asked him about it. Luke passionately talked about his plans for their future, and Leigh fell completely in love with him. Although they had only known each other for one day, they got married and returned to Luke's West Virginia mountain home, where young women getting married was not so unusual. After meeting Luke's parents, Annie and Toby, Leigh worked hard around the shack, and she ignored the stares or rude remarks of local residents. Luke was deeply in love with Leigh and planned to build a house in town for them and the baby. Whenever Luke drank alcohol, Leigh talked to him sternly, and he credited her with inspiring him to be a better person.
Leigh's diary ends after she started experiencing labor pains while out for a walk with Luke. She wrote about how they went up the mountain and how Luke talked about their future. He told her that she was the love of his life and that no man could ever love any woman more than he loved her. Leigh kissed him and asked to go back to the cabin so he could hold her. As they walked back, Leigh stopped to stare at the stars, telling Luke that when she went to sleep that night, she wanted to feel like she was going to sleep in heaven. These are the last words in her journal, as later that night Leigh died giving birth. Her death is the apparent reason Luke becomes the cruel man depicted in Heaven .
After reading Leigh's last diary entry, Annie finds a note from a private investigator hired by Tony, stating that he discovered Leigh died in childbirth due to inadequate medical care. The note also states that the child survived and was a girl. The implication is that both Tony and Jillian knew about Heaven long before she came to Farthinggale, but decided to let her grow up in poverty rather than face what they had done to Leigh. Saddened by what she has read, Annie puts the journal back in the drawer. She goes to Luke and they leave Farthinggale behind for good.
