Bertha Snider, a farm girl living in southern Indiana in the early 20th century, becomes enamored with her neighbor Frank, the only son in the mysterious Kelly family. Their hasty marriage produces a single child, the bright and beautiful Katherine, who becomes the light of Bertha’s life. Katherine braves the world outside the family’s rural existence and guides her mother into new experiences. Over the course of the story, the mother/daughter relationship evolves in unexpected ways.