Enidina and Mary live on neighboring farms in the hard country of the upper Midwest during the early 1900s. This hardscrabble life comes easily to Eddie, who has never wanted more than the land she works and the animals she raises on it with her husband, but for the deeply religious Mary, farming is at odds with her more cosmopolitan inclinations. Mary befriends Eddie, and their relationship will prove as rugged as the ground they walk on. Despite having little in common, Eddie and Mary need one another for survival and companionship. But as the Great Depression threatens, the delicate balance of their reliance on one another tips, pitting neighbor against neighbor, exposing the dark secrets they hide from one another, and triggering a series of disquieting events that threatens to unravel not only their friendship but their families as well.