The story continues in bestselling author Janet Fitch's sweeping epic about a young woman's coming into her own against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution. After the events, young Marina Makarova is pregnant and on her own, forced to eke out an existence in the Russian countryside and plotting her escape back to Petrograd. When a train comes to town bearing none other than her estranged husband Genya, now a minor celebrity, and his ragtag agitprop troupe, Marina sees her way out. But on her return to Petrograd, she finds the city not as she remembered it. Ravaged by two years of revolution, it is a lawless place of brigands and orphans, and Marina must take desperate measures to protect herself and her child.