Valeria Peyson has spent her life on the East Coast and, therefore, holds a beautifully serene vision of the West in her mind. But in relocating to Hope, Montana, she discovers the hardships of the West’s remote, male-centered way of life—starting with her marriage to a drunken failure, Manley Fleetwood. The west, however, is not without the romantic aspect that Valeria hoped to find. Coming to terms with both kinds of experience, she grows into a stronger person.