In March 1944, in the throes of World War II, Adeline Martel, her husband Emil, and their two young sons, six-year-old Waldemar (Walt) and four-year-old Wilhelm (Will), pack a covered wagon in the Romanian town of Friedenstal along the border of Ukraine. As they pack, German tanks drive by their house, trailed by trucks full of wounded German soldiers.

Three days prior, a German SS officer promised the Martel family protection if they moved west with the German army. Adeline voices concern about traveling alongside Nazis, but Emil argues that staying will ensure their continued suffering under Joseph Stalin’s Communist regime. Emil views the German officer’s promise as a starting point for escaping the war altogether.

Adeline’s mother and sister, Lydia and Malia Losing, arrive at the house. Malia suffered brain damage at 15 when a mule kicked her, leaving her, the narrator says, “childlike in some ways and wiser than most in others” (9). The Martels and Losings join the crowd of refugees leaving Friedenstal. As they ride through the village, Adeline remembers happy moments from her childhood. When Will asks what the west will look like, Adeline tells him they are going to a “beautiful green valley” (12).