In this affecting semi-autobiographical novel, the author portrays over three decades in the life of the Mason family as they struggle to survive during the lean years of the early twentieth century. Bo Mason, his wife, Elsa, and their two boys live a transient life of poverty and despair. Drifting from town to town and from state to state, the violent, ruthless Bo seeks out his fortune in the hotel business, in new farmland, and, eventually, in illegal...