[1] Set in the fictional town of Holt, Colorado, it tells the interlocking stories of some of the inhabitants.

The title comes from a type of unadorned music sung in Christian churches, and is a reference to both the Great Plains setting and the simple style of the writing.

The novel was adapted in 2004 into a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie on CBS.

The New York Times called it "a novel so foursquare, so delicate and lovely, that it has the power to exalt the reader.

"[1] and Salon described reading the book as "like being in an expertly piloted small plane, finding yourself flying low and smooth over the suddenly wondrous world below".