A fine story of love and hate, and young people growing up in a small midwestern town at the turn of the twentieth century. Parris Mitchell is a polite, clever little boy who lives with his grandmother. Cassandra Tower, is the daughter of the secretive Dr. Alexander Tower and a mother that is seen only through the upstairs window. Fun-loving Drake McHugh is the orphaned but wealthy best friend of Parris. Louise Gordon is the daughter of the town physician Dr. Henry Gordon, and finally Randy Monaghan, who is the tomboy from the "wrong side of the tracks", whose father, Tom, is a railroad worker.