The epic drought which turned Texas into a giant Dust Bowl in the 1930's and brought the state to its knees is a vivid backdrop to this story of a woman trying to make the best of things in the middle of The Great Depression.
Like others at the time, Elsa Martinelli and her family eat and breathe and drown in the inescapable dust (the descriptions of which are unimaginable) and eventually migrate to California, looking for a better life - which is nowhere to be found. The migrants are unwelcome; living in the camps and picking cotton is brutal, and their labour is cheap, and easily replaceable.
