When Willem Jansen's six children return home to attend his funeral, they must revisit their common past where they struggled to escape their father's unrelenting cruelty. But to their surprise, their father retains his grip on them, even in death. The stark lives Jansen ordained for them emerge once more: Bill, the reluctant business partner; Addie, the younger children's surrogate mother; John, the easygoing farmer whose humor masks his fear; Jennie, on her never-ending quest for her father's approval and love; Cate, the lost soul, invisible to Willem; and Danny, the rebel who learns too late that reconciliation is almost always possible. As the winds of change bring radio, motion pictures, the Depression, and World War II into the Jansen's lives, the family and the nation are altered forever. In this world of turmoil, it is the curse of their father that ultimately provides the now-grown children with their greatest and most enduring strength.