Few people in her hometown know the loss Naomi Bradwell has endured. Showing grief is not her way. Instead, she barrels down gravel country roads in her Pontiac, creating the image for outsiders of a farm girl gone bad. Hairdressers are among the self-proclaimed purveyors of truth in this little Iowa town. Their truth recalls the bitter Alma, Naomi's grandmother, who could not love. It clings to the memory of Elanore, Alma's mother, who chose not to love. And it is ignorant of the fate of Ruth, Naomi's mother, who yearned to love. Naomi's heart is full of pain because she has loved, and this emotion is something the gossiping hairdressers wouldn't recognize it if were snagged in their ratting combs. Ruth's death from breast cancer would leave Naomi alone in the world if it were not for Rilla Bleckner, the sweet-tempered neighbor who some people think caused a little girl's death. And were it not for Carmel, Naomi's best friend. But it is to the beauticians that Carmel listens. It takes Rilla's death for Carmel to understand all that Naomi has lost, and to offer the greatest gift she can give, a gift symbolized by the true intent of funeral food, which is an offering of comfort.