CAST AWAY STONES takes place on the prairies of north Iowa in the late 1970s, on the brink of what would later become the Farm Crisis. Frederick Heinold, a young farmer, is struggling to harvest his crops, unaware that his wife, JoAnn, has begun an affair with a questionable stranger from Florida that will eventually threaten their marriage and the only life Frederick has ever known. These personal dramas take place against a background of wrenching change as the traditional farming that Frederick seeks to preserve is threatened by the onslaught of agribusiness, personified by his aggressive neighbor, Eldon Mathews. As the novel moves toward its conclusion, dirt, desire and drugs converge upon these characters, transforming their lives forever.