Grandma Dowdel, a central character in Richard Peck's novel A Long Way From Chicago, is an ally of the poor, especially against antagonism from rich people and the law. Mrs. Weidenbach is the banker's wife, which means that she is already on grandma's bad side.

Not only is the Weidenbach family wealthy and powerful, but they've also been orchestrating the foreclosures of people's houses, and grandma is extremely upset to see her neighbors displaced. Mrs. Weidenbach has come to visit because she wants grandma to enter her pie in the contest at the local fair in order to win prestige for their town. It's even more suspicious that this woman, who now owns the foreclosed houses, is trying to shape up the image of the town, which will make those properties more valuable. Mrs. Weidenbach specifically doesn't want to enter the contest herself because she knows that she's looked down on as a banker, and grandma is especially upset to be asked to help her avoid this much-deserved ire.

Mrs. Weidenbach eventually badgers grandma into relenting, and clearly her pride in her baking begins to show through. Still, in the end, because of her last-minute decision to switch the pies, she doesn't win the contest for the town and still gets to know that she was the best baker at the fair.