On her way to a job at a café in Truxton, Arizona, singer Maisie Ravier has trouble with her car. She makes her way through an abandoned mining town to get to a nearby ranch, owned by a well-educated but rude and inhospitable young man named Bill Anders. Anders is a recluse by choice; his only company is hired hand Fred Gubbins, who is even more misanthropic than his boss.
She meets the Davis family—mother Sarah, father Bert, Jubie, her always-hungry little brother Harold and baby Gladys—picks her up on the road. They were farmers in Arkansas, victims of the Dust Bowl and Depression who first became tenants on their own land and then lost the farm completely, joining the masses of displaced people moving from state to state to state, from one seasonal picking job to another, with everything they possess stowed in their car. Maisie says to Anders later that she has never known that people had to live like this. She is moved by their kindness and gentle optimism, particularly by the patience and fortitude of Sarah, who quietly goes hungry for the sake of her family, and dreams of having a home so the children can get an education.
