The witty, urbane, and agnostic Rolf Munson reluctantly agrees to take a position as minister in an isolated Minnesota town in order to please his devoutly religious new wife, Inez. Five years later, he has failed utterly as a preacher, he hates the rural life, and his marriage is falling apart. To make matters worse, he is deeply in debt and despised by the entire community - and his precocious, mentally-unbalanced 14-year-old pupil has developed...