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The Cook, Clark, and Ericson families live on farms in Zebulon County, Iowa. When Jess Clark returns after a long absence, his father Harold throws a pig roast, attended by Jess’s brother Loren and widower Larry Cook and his family. Larry has three daughters: Ginny, married to Ty; Rose, married to Pete; and Caroline. Rose is recovering from surgery for breast cancer, and Ginny has had five miscarriages. Larry announces that he’s decided to deed his farm to his daughters. The next day, the family banker shows up with papers to sign, but Larry does not allow Caroline in his house because she has expressed doubt about the transfer. Ginny and Rose and their husbands live and work on the farm and are eager to move the transfer forward. Caroline, a lawyer from Des Moines, has no interest in farming. Rose and Pete have two daughters, Pammy and Linda, who go to boarding school.

Ginny begins an intimate friendship with Jess, who has lived in Canada to avoid the Vietnam War. There he learned organic farming and Eastern philosophy. After the transfer of the farm’s ownership, Larry becomes depressed. Ginny takes Rose to her three-month post-surgical checkup. The two couples and Jess begin a Monopoly tournament, a lively series that brings out the fun in Pete. Larry buys kitchen cabinets and a new sofa. He leaves the cabinets out in the rain, infuriating Rose. One hot day, Ginny takes Pammy and Linda swimming and meets an old friend of her mother’s. The woman tells her that their mother was afraid for her daughters because of Larry. Back at home, Caroline calls to say that Larry has been to her office when she was not there. Caroline thinks her sisters neglect Larry. Ginny and Jess Clark share a kiss. Ginny recalls that right before their mother died, when she was fourteen, her father bought the Ericsons’ farm. Five years later, Ginny married Ty and they moved into the Ericsons’ house. Caroline marries without telling her sisters. Larry’s drinking results in a car accident. Ty thinks that Ginny and Rose should be more tolerant of their father, but Ginny scolds their father and tries to be firm. Ginny and Rose agree to be a united front. Ginny and Jess have sex in the wild roses.

Ginny and Ty get a loan to expand the farm. Larry’s anxiety and resentment grow. With a storm brewing, Larry takes Pete’s truck. When he returns, Larry goes berserk with Ginny and Rose, calling them bitches and whores. Larry goes out into the storm, fighting all attempts to stop him. The electricity goes out. Rose tells Ginny that Larry sexually abused them both when they were teenagers, but Ginny resists this memory. Jess and Harold find Larry in the storm and bring him indoors. Harold says he wants to help try to repair the feelings in the Cook family and suggests that they all meet at the church supper. At the supper, Harold stands up and tells everyone that Ginny and Rose are bitches who have betrayed their father. Jess and Harold fight over the matter. Days later, Ginny goes to her father’s house hoping to find some insight into their mother. When she lies down on her old bed, memories of her father’s abuse rush in. The next week, Harold is blinded when his tractor sprays ammonia into his eyes. On July 17, a lawyer informs the family that Larry and Caroline are suing to get the farm returned to Larry.

Ginny calls Caroline, but she refuses to talk about the lawsuit. Ginny goes to a quarry to swim and meets Pete, who admits that sometimes he wants to hurt someone. As Ty works on the new buildings, he discovers the bloody clothes that Ginny buried to cover her last miscarriage, and he’s furious that she’s lied to him. Ginny sneaks out to her father’s house, where Jess is staying. When she tells Jess that she loves him, his response indicates remorse. In town, Ginny feels judged by everyone. When she sees Caroline and Larry in a store, she hides but overhears their conversation. Ty, Ginny, and Pete meet with a lawyer. Pete drives his truck into the quarry and drowns. One night, Rose confesses to Ginny that she’s having an affair with Jess, and Ginny wonders if this truth contributed to Pete’s death. Ginny decides to poison Rose with canned sausages laced with hemlock. On October 19, at the hearing, the judge in the transfer of land case rules in favor of Rose, Ginny, and Ty. Back at home, Ty and Ginny quarrel. Ginny asks him for a thousand dollars, which he gives. She drives to St. Paul, takes a waitressing job, and rents an apartment. A week later, Larry has a heart attack and dies. Rose writes to Ginny that Jess has gone back to Vancouver.

Several years later, Ty comes to the restaurant and asks for a divorce. He’s given Rose the farm and is moving to Texas. A few months later, Rose calls Ginny and asks her to come to the hospital because her cancer has returned. She’s dying and wants Ginny to raise her girls. By March, Caroline and Ginny have sold the farm and are cleaning out their father’s house. Ginny considers telling Caroline about Larry’s abuse but does not. She fetches the jars of poison sausages and dumps them in her garbage disposal. The buildings are all razed, and the girls grow into young women. Ginny holds onto her anger, inspired by Rose.

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