In 1978, Harold and Magdalena Brown and their young son Sean move to Mercy Valley, Oregon, a small town in northeast Oregon cradled in the palm of the granite peaked Wallowa Mountains. Magdalena hopes to build a greenhouse and sell medicinal herbs, and Harold wants his own auto mechanics business. Joe Mobey, owner of the town's only grocery store, is taken with the couple but thinks they don't have the skills to make it in such a rural area. Trying to help a buddy, Joe tells the Browns that the only place to rent is a tiny house on Main. It has little insulation against the cold winter to come. The Browns do make a go of it though, for Harold is a superb mechanic, and folks bring their vehicles to him despite their opinions on his drinking and the weird metal sculptures he scatters all over the hillside in front of his house. Mag builds her greenhouse. Life for the Browns should be rosy, but Harold's drinking worsens, and Mag's anger grows. To make matters worse, Harold's art attracts the attention of a large crowd of outsiders from as far away as Portland and Boise. The locals resent the intrusion of these strangers into their town. Mag proves to be as good at growing plants as Harold is at fixing engines, but folks suspect her real profit comes from growing pot. She tries to dispel the suspicion, but the rumors persist, especially when she makes friends with Sylvia, a red wigged, miniskirted, sixty year old widow known for flaunting what the town thinks is proper. Sylvia and Mag begin the poets' magic sanctuaries, places of refuge hidden in the woods behind the Browns' house, where they can share their poems without fear of criticism. When Harold's art crowd discovers them, they become as big an attraction as his sculptures. As the sanctuaries grow in number and popularity, the locals' fears of them multiply. Besides Sylvia, the Browns have only two other close friends, their nearest neighbors, sixty year old Whitey and his ninety year old mother, Frieda. Harold and Magdalena help them during calving season when Frieda gets sick, and Whitey responds to their kindness with enduring loyalty. Frieda revels in the freedom she finds hanging out in the poets' magic sanctuaries and begins a belated rebellion. Magdalena and Joe take turns telling the story of the Browns' move to Mercy Valley. Both of them must decide what is important to them and be brave enough to act on their decisions.