World War I is raging in Europe. As America is drawn into the bitter conflict, Nephi Erickson comes to believe enlisting with the Marines is not only his duty, but also his best chance at making some much-needed money. He feels he has failed in his promise to care for his wife, Alaina, and their small daughter, Katie. As he leaves their tranquil Salt Lake City hillside home for a barren battlefield where disease can be as deadly as the enemy, Nephi has no idea that Alaina is carrying their second child — a child he may never see. With her husband half a world away, Alaina derives some solace from the fact that her younger sister, Eleanor, lives nearby. Nineteen-year-old Eleanor — the only woman studying medicine at the University of Utah — is soon immersed in researching treatments for the influenza pandemic ravaging the world, a scourge that will soon touch her life all too closely. An unforgettable historical drama of innocence lost, of memorable characters struggling to hold on to truth and meaning in an age of turmoil, you'll be captivated by Gale Sears' poetic weaving of time, place, and powerful emotion.