After her husband dies at the young age of 42, Clarinda's strong character and deep love for her children manifest as she fights for her family's survival. Of the 17 children she bore, 11 still live at home, ranging in age from 11 months to 17 years. In order to survive, Clarinda battles the grim reaper when the cabin catches on fire at midnight during a blizzard; she hooks rag rugs and trades them for children's secondhand clothes; she works the harvest fields, accepting corn as payment for her labor; she's a washer woman for the well-off. After five years of widowhood, Clarinda marries a prosperous older man with a large farm. Instead of providing a good home for her and her children, the marriage drives her family apart. During this time, she loses a son in World War II. Hard labor, a grouchy husband, and the unhappiness of her children lay heavy on her heart. She turns her face homeward--toward her cabin on Levi's Mountain, and she and her children walk off the farm with nothing but the clothes on their backs. At once, the entire family gathers for a homecoming get-together, Happiness and joy abound for the moment, but winter is nigh at hand and they have nothing to sustain them. Soon, Clarinda's husband shows up weeping. She refused to return to his farm but has a plan for reconciliation. He must provide half of all living expenses for the family. At first, he balks, but considering his lonely plight of gnawing on last years corn cobs by a cold hearthstone, he accepts her proposal.