1914. Clarence and Silvia Owens live in the small rural town of Ackley, Iowa, struggling with the everyday problems of raising a family. Their three children couldn't be more different-Alva, young and short-tempered; her older brother, Warren, quiet and self-critical; and Emmett, the youngest and the joy of the family, forever playing pranks and shirking his schoolwork. Nearly three years later, startling news hits the town: the United States has joined the war. But the war seems very far away, until Clarence, desperate to escape a crumbling marriage, makes a drastic decision that changes his and his family's lives forever. In Came the Rain explores the limitations of family, faith, and the secrets that slowly kill us.