Set in the deep woods and bogs of northern Lithuania in the period between the two World Wars, this is the tragic story of a young man struggling to find a place for himself in the world. In the winter, Tilius and his friend Petras work as lumberjacks, but as the spring thaws arrive, Tilius loses his chance at a post as a border guard when he gets into a brawl with the lumber company representative. Instead, he accepts a job as a hired hand at the nearby Doveika farm. Caught between his love for the innocent young Agne and the seductions of his mistress Monika, Tilius is buffeted by circumstances and his confusing and sometimes uncontrollable emotions. With lame herdsman Laurynas keeping guard, the story flows through the seasons to its inevitable conclusion. Written in exile in the United States ten years after the author fled war in his native land, this book in many ways is a love letter to a country and a life left behind.