Fannie Flagg turns her magical story-telling talent to a short and poignant Christmas story for all the family. Oswald T. Campbell, aged 52, down-and-out in a Chicago winter, is given only months to live unless he moves South...He finds himself in the small-town of Lost River, Alabama, where the residents are friendly if feud-prone and eccentric to a fault. One of them, Roy, keeps a red cardinal, a once wounded bird called Jack, in the village store. Patsy, a sad, sweet little kid with a crippled leg, from the trailer park up in the woods, takes to dropping by the store - and falls in love with Jack. Flagg takes us on an emotional roller-coaster ride through the lives and hearts of an engaging crew of misfits, fixers and ordinary good-hearted folk, set against the vivid natural backdrop of a mellow Alabama winter, along the riverside where birds and fish abound. The enchanting story culminates at Christmastide with miracles and a magical 'redbird' moment.