Love is a chain of love... as nature is a chain of life.
After young Collin Fenwick's parents pass away, he goes to live with two of his father's cousins, Dolly and Verena Talbo. Dolly is the sweet one, who manages to earn her living during the Depression by selling a home remedy she helped invent. The sterner Verena, meanwhile, bosses everyone around.
Collin gradually becomes acquainted with the eccentric townspeople, from the gossip-loving barber to a woman with 15 illegitimate kids. But the boy's life only achieves clarity after Dolly teaches him about the "grass harp" -- the ability to hear the voices of deceased loved ones in the whistlings of the wind.