"I never said you were a good person. I said you have a good heart." When he first arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, Devlin Lachlan's dream was to become like "quality folk". But that dream is shattered when his wife dies, his successful business is shut down, and he is thrown into a prison work camp. Through his daring escape, a trip down the Mississippi, a journey to Mexico on the Santa Fe Trail, a dangerous flight to California during the Mexican-American War, and a struggle against an unfair land law, his main goal is survival - not just for himself, but also for his friends and neighbors. His dream now is simply having a family of his own, but when his second wife takes their baby and runs away, leaving him still married but alone, it may be too late for him to ever find the love he longs for.