World weary, despondent and widowed, Angelica, an anthropology professor from the University of San Francisco, takes a trip to heal her soul. While canoeing on the Russian River, she collides with a submerged tree and becomes pinned underwater where she has a near-death experience. The Shape-Shifter's Wife tells the story of how Angelica, transported to California's Gold Rush era in 1848, meets a handsome Frenchman shackled with a family curse, and an Indian medicine man who is compelled to reveal a prophecy that will change her life.