Blair Stenfeld is thrown out of her mother's house and finds herself adrift in the heart of New York City. It is the 1940s. For the first several weeks, she is homesick and hopes to return to her mother, her sisters, and her mother's small Ohio dairy farm where she grew up. Soon, Blair finds herself transformed by the hustle and bustle of the city. She decides to stay and plans to find a rich man to marry. She needs someone who will never leave her (she fears abandonment), someone who can provide her with the means to prove she is a daughter worthy of love. Blair was born out of wedlock, and Blair's mother has treated her as a mistake ever since and not as a beloved daughter. Blair takes a job as a waitress at an elegant restaurant hoping by rubbing elbows with the wealthy to meet a rich man. In the meantime, she studies the mannerisms of her customers to help prepare herself for high society. As she is leaving work one night, she is accosted by one her wealthy customers. She is rescued by a man who turns out to have amassed a small fortune. She learns that Carlsin Player has had a childhood as ragtag as her own and is drawn to him. He tells her upfront that he has a criminal record. She admires his honesty and is undeterred. They draw closer together. She tells him her dream is to own an elegant farm. She lures him into her dream by pointing out that he would become landed gentry, a gentleman farmer, and well-respected. He wants to be somebody. She does too. She wants to climb the walls of high society. She also wants to best her mother at farming to prove to her mother that she is worthy of love. When Carlsin is threatened with deportation as an undesirable alien, Blair finds this is the perfect time for them to move to a land of wealth and privilege in Maryland. The only problem is Carlsin is somewhat rough around the edges. Blair seeks to remake him.