Rowan and Nina meet two twins, Xanthe and Xavier Alexander, who tell them about an old abandoned resort that appears to be haunted. But when he arrives he finds strange things starting to happen: the aunts run a curio shop stocking some items so curious they even compel Nina to start speaking again.

When his two great aunts invite Rowan and Nina to spend the summer with them in Owatannauk, Maine, a small (fictional) town on the tip of the state, Rowan anticipates a very boring summer with the two elderly women. Thirteen-year-old Rowan's life is at an all-time low: his father has turned to drinking, the family business is becoming a financial disaster, they have had to move from their house to a small apartment, and his musically talented ten-year-old sister Nina has become withdrawn. The Golden Hour tells the story of Rowan and Nina's adventures the summer after their mother's death. It tells the story of Rowan Popplewell and his sister, Nina, who, while emotionally disturbed by the death of their mother, travel back in time to the French Revolution. It was first published in 2004 and is the first of the Golden Hour time travel series. The Golden Hour is a children's novel by Maiya Williams.

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