The story follows the journey of a young, Catholic Eastern European family immigrating in the early 1900's from their native Poland to the United States. After an arduous journey first by rail and then by sea, Jan and Emilia land at Ellis Island, New York, and struggle to pass the physical needed to enter the country. After some anxious days, they are met by Jan's brother, Stan, who helps them navigate the large, imposing city. When they reach Grand Central Station, they realize they do not have enough money for train fare for the entire family. Jan's brother takes the family to his home in Wisconsin, and Jan is left to fend for himself in New York, with but a few pennies in his pocket and no English language skills, vowing to come to Wisconsin as soon as he can get enough money for train fare.
Jan miraculously finds a job with the Singer sewing machine company and after an agonizing year of saving for both train fare and lumber to build his own farm, returns to his family at Stan's farm in central Wisconsin. Stan has purchased the land next door for his brother, and Jan and Emilia begin their new life there. At this time, they have four children, and little else. With the help of Stan, fellow neighbors and church members, they build a house and raise a barn. The oldest son, Ben, made a sign to mark the entrance to the farm; carved on it was a large red "Z".
Each character has their own story to tell. The early Twentieth Century is fraught with enormous historical events such as The Great Depression, Spanish Flu, and two World Wars. In the novel, the life-experiences of Jan, Emilia and each of their ten surviving children are revealed to the reader, each with their own unique perspective. Jan will endure the ups and downs of farming, so dependent both on physical weather and political climate. He will struggle with severe depression. Emilia will raise ten children to adulthood and bury two infants. She will suffer watching her loved ones go to War and mourn her family still in Poland during World War II. Each of the ten children will eventually leave the farm, albeit one, ironically, the one that hated it the most.
Although they will always remain close, the siblings will all go their separate ways, some to near-by cities and some to states afar. They will all have struggles and triumphs; some will go to War, some will endure unspeakable heartbreak, most will rely on their faith. They will all benefit from lessons taught to them from Jan and Emilia and from their spartan upbringing.
These stories begin in the early 1900's and continue to the present, with their descendants. Many readers will identify with these stories, perhaps reminiscent of those told to them by their own forefathers, or those passed down from previous generations. It reminds us of the sacrifices made by those gone before us, making their way toward a better life without benefit of those things we today take for granted, such as electricity, running water, mass communication and automobiles.