 The story of two Kansas high school sweethearts growing up in the late 1920s through the stock market crash of 1929. Bud and Deanie are very much in love, but the pressures of sex in society creates a rift in their relationship. Bud s father encourages him to leave Deanie to find "another kind of girl" which drives Deanie into madness. She is committed into an institution while Bud reluctantly obeys his father and enrolls in Yale. The crash of  29 hits and changes the lives of both their families. Together they learn the harsh lesson of love and life in the  20s and sadly go their separate ways.