Living on a thousand-acre sheep ranch, fifteen-year-old Sophie Behr can ride for hours and not see another person; her closest companion, her horse, Pablo. And Sophie often roams to think - about Demetrio, the Mexican ranch hand who helped make the baby growing inside her; about her mother and Aunt Alice, who drink every night while watching the television news, hoping to catch a glimpse of their sons fighting in Vietnam; and about her father, who vanished one day when Sophie was four years old.

Sophie's mother - tough, bitter, and unstable - warns Sophie never to mention her father's name, but Sophie is compelled to find him and discover why he left. After a frighteningly violent reunion, she seeks refuge and illumination from her grandmother. At once child and woman, Sophie is a precociously wise observer of the tragedies of her own family and of the world.