20th century computer games designer Scott, Civil War buff, buys an antique desk from that era and, while polishing it, he discovers a secret compartment in which sits an unmailed letter--a letter written by a young poet named Lizzie over a century earlier. Touched by her yearning for passion, he writes her back, egged on by his mystically inclined mother. Magically, his letter reaches Lizzie and they begin a correspondence that threatens Scott's impending marriage but promises to bring fulfilment to Lizzie. Spanning the Civil War to the present, the perils of Lizzie's war-torn situation threaten her safe passage into the future. Will their love endure the test of time?
Campbell Scott
as Scotty Corrigan
Jennifer Jason Leigh
as Lizzie Whitcomb
David Dukes
as Everett Reagle
Estelle Parsons
as Beatrice Corrigan
Daphne Ashbrook
as Debra Zabriskie
Gerrit Graham
as Warren Whitcomb
Kali Rocha
as Flossy Whitcomb
Laurie Kennedy
as Lavinia Whitcomb
Irma P. Hall
as Mae Mullen
Myra Carter
as Clarice Whitcomb
Richard Woods
as Jacob Campbell
Edgar Smith
as Potts the Postman
