War breaks a family’s world apart. Across Russia, the Pacific, and the North American prairie, survival becomes a journey toward a home they must build themselves.
The saga begins around Fontanka and Odesa, where Ivan Swaroski, his twin sister Carine, and the people they love are drawn into the upheaval of the First World War. Separation, accusation, injury, and loss follow them east.
Their route does not end at the sea. From Vladivostok, they cross the Pacific to Vancouver, then travel inland to North Dakota. There, work, language, weather, and memory test what it means to begin again.
Ivan and his twin sister Carine begin in the world that the war will scatter. Their mother Elenor and the people around them carry ties that remain important long after they leave home.
Soldier and survivor whose injuries and choices follow him into a new country.
Ivan’s twin, bound to the family story through love and loss.
Ballerina and nurse whose care for Ivan grows through the war.
Engineer whose practical ingenuity helps the newcomers shape a future on the prairie.
Widowed North Dakota farmer who hires the arriving group.
Teacher who brings translation books as the newcomers learn to navigate their new home.
On the North Dakota prairie, irrigation, planting, and a fierce windstorm turn settlement into daily work. The fourth book approaches 1925 without easy triumph. The family’s story continues across the decades that follow.