From the battlefields of Vietnam to the coalmines of Utah, "Melanie" explores both the tragedy of war and the dangers of longwall coal mining. But beyond these two contrasts lies a passionate love story. In Part I, Tom Ire returns to Oakville, Utah, after twelve years in the Navy and two tours of duty in Vietnam. He is welcomed home as a hero, but with both parents now dead, and the horror of Vietnam still fresh in his memory, starting over is not that easy. Heartache and tragedy seem to follow him.
In Part II Melanie, Tom's daughter, is caught up in the world of a small coal-mining town. She finds herself at odds with members of the community church, who are jealous of both her beauty and intellect. Branded as a whore, Melanie fights back.
Amid her problems with the citizens of Coaldale, Utah, Melanie meets Richard Garcia, a young mine safety engineer. Richard becomes involved with Melanie's struggle against the community church, and finds himself embarrassed by her behavior.
Turmoil deep in the earth's surface along the Wasatch Fault, lying silent for ten thousand years, is about to explode