In 1920s Minnesota, life is hard for nineteen-year-old Owen Jensen and his family after their father dies but gets considerably worse when Owen becomes involved in the deaths of a sheriff and deputy.

In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he has just served fifteen months for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett's intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett...

Ralph Truitt, a wealthy businessman with a troubled past who lives in a remote nineteenth-century Wisconsin town, has advertised for a reliable wife; and his ad is answered by Catherine Land, a woman who makes every effort to hide her own dark secrets.

Describes the geography, plants, animals, history, economy, language, sports, arts, religions, culture, and people of Mexico.