Yonnodio is the story of the Holbrook family, led by patriarch Jim and his wife Anna, during the Great Depression. The family moves from mining country to farmland to the slums of Omaha. They struggle constantly both with poverty and with internal stresses caused by Jim's abusive behavior and Anna's inability to cope with the demands of children Mazie, Will, Ben, Jimmie, and Bess. Mazie's coming of age amidst poverty forms the heart of the narrative.