Katya Vogt is an old woman living in North America, but her rich past is in a Mennonite community in the Russian steppes, where her family's religion, their traditions, and her father's position as farm manager of a luxurious estate set them apart from the surrounding Russian community. As in a Willa Cather novel, the rhythms of the seasons are mirrored in the structures of a society in which everyone knows their place, even if they chafe against it.

Then revolution comes. First the German army, then the anarchists, and finally the Communists overrun the land. Katya, schooled in Mennonite pacifism and the forbearance of her father, is tested by a world turned upside-down. She sees, too, how old structures of power begin to reassert themselves even in the midst of chaos. One of thousands of refugees, she not only survives but finds a way to thrive against all odds.