Growing up in the 1920s and 1930s, Pete, Howard and Ann Bradbury do what they can to please a father who is unrelenting in seeking to have them submit to his strict demands on them. No matter how harsh their father is, their mother does what she can to provide a good home for them. In spite of their father’s callousness, they often share their individual expectations in life. As they mature, they yearn for independence while maintaining the closeness to friends and family.

While Pete struggles to build a new life in California and Howard attends West Point to pursue a career in the army, Ann is left to contend with a spiteful father who lies to her and tries to control her life. Pete’s stay in California doesn’t turn out as he hoped. Too willing to believe he’s in love and trying to deal with what he considers his failures, his journey home reminds him how much he longs to be back with those he loves. Returning home as a war hero, after his plans for having a career in the army comes to an end, Howard looks forward to asking his girlfriend to marry him. Feeling regret for leaving home, Ann’s fear of her father’s retaliation leads her to do something she might not have done if she hadn’t so openly defied him.

It is a story about the complexities of family, love, and survival in the midst of personal and social turmoil. If life is a journey, it is one where personal choices are affected by family, friends, and circumstances. No matter where the journey takes someone, it is as individual as those on the Journey of Life.