Mama's Song is a portrait of life in the tiny rural community of Elgood, West Virginia, in the early 1900s. It centers around the Higginbothams, a close-knit farming family, and particularly on Maude, their youngest daughter. It chronicles how their lives are shaped by historical events, their own personal choices, and the trials they face in an era before modern conveniences and modern medicine.

They are just an ordinary family--none of them pursue or gain worldly fame. Even so, their unassuming lives are powerful examples of faith, perseverance, and sacrificial love, and the impact that simple acts of kindness have on the lives of others.

Their journey through life teaches them that love, loss, and grief are intertwined and will always be so, this side of heaven.