The protagonist in The Grave is a girl named Miranda who, as the story progresses, discovers a link between her adult life and a childhood memory. The story begins with a briefly recounted history of Miranda's grandparents. Her grandfather, who has been dead more than thirty years, has been moved from his grave twice. Each time his widow moves she uproots his grave and reburies him close to her, hoping one day that they will be buried side by side. The first move was to Louisiana and the second move was to Texas. The narrator states that the grandmother's constant relocation makes it seem as though she is searching out her own burial place.

In Texas the grandmother sets up a small cemetery in a corner of her farm. Over the years the family connection grows and relations migrate from Kentucky to settle in Texas...