The novel is a story of a working-class couple, Billy and Saxon Roberts, struggling laborers in Oakland at the Turn-of-the-Century, who left city life behind and searched Central and Northern California for suitable farmland to own. The book is notable for its scenes in which the proletarian hero enjoys fellowship with the artists' colony in Carmel, and he settles in the Valley of the Moon. Billy and Saxon are hard working people living in Oakland. When a issue erupts between the San Francisco bricklayers and the Oakland bricklayers, it leads to a riot that pulls both Billy and Saxon into the frantic fray. When the commotion settles down, Billy and Saxon realize that the growing labor unrest will only get worse and decide to find a safer place to live. They eventually find it -- in the Valley of the Moon. Jack London was an adventurer and writer during the early 20th century. He wrote such classical works as Call of the Wild and White Fang, both of which were inspired by his year in Alaska as a gold prospector. Valley of the Moon is where Jack London eventually settled to raise record crops and champion livestock.