Luli Russell never imagines the hurricanes, figurative and real, that will roar through her life when she turns fifty. A traditional Green Bay housewife, she has buried her artistic talent under the demands of family. For her birthday, her husband Herb and their four children give her a trip to Santa Fe on her own, a month of painting lessons, and an enviable set of watercolors.

An hysterical call from her teenage daughter turns her dream trip into a nightmare. Minutes later, still in shock, Luli finds a bleeding man lying helpless in a parking lot. Her call for help is answered by Adán Alire, a former medic in Vietnam. He knows how to rescue the old man, and his kindhearted wife Rosealba knows how to rescue Luli.

An Apricot Year throws together a quartet of dissimilar people who find their common humanity outweighs their differences as they meet in the shade of a bountiful apricot tree.