In the early 1900s, three Finnish siblings flee Russian oppression and head to the United States, settling among other refugee Finns in a logging community along the Columbia River in southern Washington. Brothers Ilmari and Matti Koski relish the excitement and danger of pioneering this frontier wilderness, while their strong, independent sister Aino devotes herself to organizing the industry's first unions. As the Koskis struggle to rebuild their lives in a rapidly modernizing America, they also strive to hold onto the traditions of the homeland they left behind. A decade after his debut novel Matterhorn, Karl Marlantes follows up with this "engrossing and commanding historical epic…. A feat of lavish storytelling."—Washington Post