The Russian Revolution is in full swing when ten year old Mikhail loses his family and has to take to the road to get away from the guns. He feels that the death-marchers he walks with are doomed so breaks away from their line to look for shelter.
Farmers Ivan and Anna find him and let him live with them to work their farm.
He grows into manhood and falls in love with Anna. He suffers through years of brutality from Ivan and knows they must one day come to blows. There is a fight and Mikhail kills the old man and runs for his life again.
There is an old fable about a butcher whose dog is killed because the villagers thought he was keeping food from them. Ivan is left lying in a clearing in the woods just like the butcher's dog.
Mikhail finally arrives in Canada with another young boy, Andy, and learns the ropes in Fort William as a docker. He and Andy get to Victoria and fall in love with the sea. Mikhail marries into money and buys a boat to start running liquor into the states because of prohibition and the temptation of larger profits.
He's wealthy but not truly happy. He never stops trying to find Anna, his first and only love.
Eliza Hemingway (Hawkins) was born in Yorkshire, England. She calls Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, her home, where she was given Honorary Citizen status for her work in the arts. She has written and produced plays, written for newspapers, acted in theatre, read stories for C.B.C. radio and appeared in movies. She is also a successful oil painter and fabric artist. She has won three awards for her work. Visit Eliza's websites at http://www.maggiedove.com and also www.authorsden.com/elizahemingway