Anthropologists have asserted that rules governing kinship ties are the basis of a society; and it is these kinship rules that are the primary focus of The Beet Queen. The novel depicts the gap between expected family ties and what people actually do.

The Beet Queen begins with a mother, Adelaide, abandoning her children at an orphan's fair, and flying away with a stunt pilot. The baby, Jude, is taken by a childless couple, while two other children, Mary Adare and her brother Karl, hop a freight train to seek protection from their aunt and uncle in North Dakota. Unable to accept substitutes for his mother, Karl flees their care.

For her part, Mary attempts to earn the love of her aunt and uncle, unaware that it is being freely given. For Karl, the fear of emotional rejection inspires flight from a possible...