It's 1907 on Minnesota's "Iron Range" and the death of 13-year-old Anna Kallio's mother means that the girl must leave school in order to keep house for her father and younger brother. The family's hardships multiply with a miners' strike and the fear that Anna's father, a blacksmith, won't be able to find work. Frustrated by a life of grown-up concerns, Anna and her brother conspire to find a wife for their father so that Anna can return to s...
It is March 1945, the last days of World War II, just inside the German front. Kurt, a German army deserter, and Rachel, a 15-year-old Jew who has escaped from the terrors of Nazi Berlin, meet. The two must trust each other in order to survive and escape.