Hank boards them in the house of Mr. Pendergast, an elderly farmer. In exchange for their room and food, Julie must cook Pendergast's meals and wash his filthy clothes. He's a harsh taskmaster. Then Pendergast is burned to death in a fire that's partly Julie's fault. From there, bad continually goes to worse.
Hank turns out to be spoiled, ill-tempered and undependable.
He loses his job. Julie and Hank are ripped off by grifters. They endure flood, famine and freezing cold. Their first child is born prematurely while Hank is away from home. If all this sounds too depressing to read, the surprise is that it's really not.