The story depicts the hardships endured, the emotions and thoughts experienced, the bravery manifested, and the steadfast faith motivating and strengthening a courageous woman, who struggles to lead her household through the cruel depression, and difficult war years.

Jessie Hudson, the protagonist of IF YOU ONLY KNEW… gives up a promising nursing career to become the wife of impetuous Allyn Splane, who chooses the hard-life of pioneering in northern Alberta, over the security of his railway job in Calgary.

The account, divided into two parts, is told in third person, past tense, mainly from Jessie's point of view.

Part one takes in Jessie's growing-up years, 1902-1922; her nursing days, 1922-1928; her marriage, 1928; the birth of her children, including near-death experiences with a premature baby and a miscarriage, children's illnesses, fires, drought, dust, grasshoppers, discouragement, loneliness, and despair, 1929-1939; and the family's move from the north, 1939, at the start of World War II.

A short prologue at the beginning of part one projects the reader ahead to 1939:
On a cold October morning, a mother walks away from a shack—her home—leaving behind her children. Why is she walking away?

Another brief prologue at the beginning of part two flashes ahead into the story, leaving the reader feeling that something is amiss with Jessie. What is it?

Experiences of the protagonist which pepper the second part of the book are: the joy of a Blue Ribbon for "best garden"; the sorrow brought on by a wayward daughter; the heart-rending separation from her children while they are away at school; the frustration of enduring nineteen unpleasant house-guests; the care of an abandoned baby, threatening the pursuance of her nursing career; the pain of dealing with a daughter's blindness; the anguish of a daughter on her death bed; and the euphoria she experiences when she regains her nursing status.