A powerful folksy saga chronicling several generations of the Balmer family. Escaping terror in Switzerland, the Balmers flee to Holland where William Penn invites them to find freedom in the new world. Charismatic Fritz Balmer leads one hundred five colonists into the harsh wilderness of 1715 Pennsylvania. Upon settling, Fritz's wife, Olga, is shocked to find Aprilmay, a frantic young slave. Fritz's younger brother, Wilhelm, learns to his disheartenment that stubborn Moravian elders have promised the girl of his dreams to a vicious man whose wife has drowned under mysterious circumstances. Ninety-eight years later, in 1833, young Frederick Balmer makes a life changing voyage to Connecticut. Obsessed with finding property, he travels to the Western Reserve in Ohio. Frederick's broken-hearted son, Isaac, carries on the Balmer family farming traditions. Isaac's daughter, Esther, unbelievably naive, grows up without a clue about marital relations only to shock her new husband on their wedding night. Esther's oldest daughter, haughty Wilma, who is preoccupied with the Bible, grasps it too tightly creating a dilemma for her daughter, Marla. Years later, Marla gives birth to Elise. As a teenager, Elise pines over the disappearance of handsome, heart-throb neighbor, Billy Cameron, until remorseless Conner Flynn rides into town and creates a huge family crisis.