After her life as she knows it ends in heartbreak, Mary Rasmussen, a strong-willed and independent young ranch woman living in the Sandhills of western Nebraska, suddenly feels that everything she has believed in—God, her instincts, the land itself—has failed her. She abandons her cultural and emotional ties, succumbing to circumstances she thinks she is powerless to control. In a rash decision, she marries a conservative, patriarchal preacher who doesn't understand her, the ranching community, or anything beyond his own beliefs. Mary's inner turmoil builds as she comes to appreciate the gravity of her situation and the need to take action.