"The Man Who Cursed the Rain" is based on the true events of a woman named Emmie-May. The novel tells of the struggles Emmie-May and her brothers faced beginning with their birth into poverty and the physical and emotional abuse they suffer as children. The story culminates with the triumph Emmie-May has over her husband who is cruel and who almost takes her life. Saint Rose, Emmie's husband, is a violent and complicated man whose actions are often irrational and deeply unsettling. Marcus, the couple's son, is left with disturbing memories of his father, and battles his own demons as he strives to become a man who is nothing like him.