This autobiographical novel describes the events which took place in the life of the author in 1915 when he father had gone out of town to see his own father, who had had a heart attack.While his father was coming back home, he had a car accident and he was killed. The novel presents a picture of the life of people in Knoxville, Tennessee. The story reveals how the young widow suffers her loss and how her two children are affected. It also shows how the accident affects her atheist father and her alcoholic brother-in-law.