Sophie and the Rising Sun takes place in a small fictional town called Salty Creek, Georgia, in the days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

The story focuses on the main character Sophie, a single spinster who has spent the majority of her adult life caring for her aging mother and two elderly aunts, who suffer from dementia.

Some speculation over her past love affair with a man who had died during a battle in World War I has been alluded to, and is at the center of some gossip between the local housewives.

The story also focuses on another character, Mr. Oto, a Japanese-American who through a series of events ends up stuck in Salty Creek under the care of the local doctor and his wife after he was found on a bus, too weak from malnutrition and sleep loss to make his way back to California, where his father and other family members live.

Sophie and the Rising Sun is an independent feature film based on the novel by Augusta Trobaugh and adapted and directed by critically acclaimed filmmaker Maggie Greenwald (Songcatcher, Ballad Of Little Jo).