In 1885, wealthy New York socialite Beret Osmundsen investigates the brutal murder of her estranged sister Lillie, entering a dangerous world of prostitution where she discovers the truth about the sister she couldn't save, exposing the darkest side of Gilded Age ambition in Denver in the process.

In 1933, when twelve-year-old Hallie Turner and her brothers, Tom and Benny, take to the road seeking whatever work they can get, they find kindness in small-town Kansas.