WinterChild is a true story with names and places changed. It tells of the personal struggle of a boy who carries within him all the mistakes of his parents and grandparents; for Mike is a gifted child born into harsh, unrelenting poverty, subject to not only physical privation but abuse. WinterChild begins at the start of the 20th Century in homesteaders' shacks. Vincent, who is Mike's father, and Gertie are raised under brutal conditions and lose the ability to love. Nonetheless they meet and marry, raising four children in abject poverty and Mike is the youngest. He is treated harshly and abused by not only his parents but by his teachers. His intelligence and talent become liabilities as he attempts to navigate all the emotional turmoil within. The story is brutal, but also tender, when as a young man Mike weeps when he holds a baby in his arms for the first time.