Widowed, pregnant and alone, twenty-year-old Rachel marries a man she barely knows. Jonathan is kind, wealthy and generous, and for Rachel's hungry heart, love is most wanted. Yet her destiny will be shaped by devastating troubles that will resonate in her own life and within the lives of her daughter and granddaughter.

Set against the backdrop of fifty years of American wars, this is the story of Rachel, Liz and Crystal, the men they love and the private battles that shape the women's lives. Through it all, they realize that nothing can break the bonds of love and family.