Publisher's Synopsis
Out of desperation, Rose and Augustine Cipera and Josephine and Benjamin Dedic enslave themselves to the Lord of the Manor in 1750 Bohemia. After years of struggling to survive on their small plot of poor land, the two families along with thousands of other townspeople, rebel against the authoratative and abusive Lord of the Manor and their Queen, Maria Theresa, in the town square of Ceske Budajovice. It soon becomes an all out revolt as the townspeople fight for their basic needs to survive and stay alive. Their neighbors are horrified as army men come and kidnap their young son, Joshua, declaring them unfit parents, sending Joshua to work in their woolen factories and spinning mills. Emotionally crushed, Pavel and Karolina are forced to accept the absence of their young son, as Queen Maria Theresa sends twenty-thousand troops to regain control of the town and the people. Reigning from Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria the fair minded Queen Maria Theresa has her own problems dealing with Catherine the Great of Russia, Fredrick the Great of Prussia, and her daughter Marie Antoinette, Queen of France. As the powerful French people rise up against their own leaders for better living conditions and basic necessities, they become ever more powerful, eventually creating fear and wars among the most dynamic and rich Dynasty's in all of Europe. Bohemia is invaded again and again under the reign of several different Kings and Queens after the death of Queen Maria Theresa. As Pavel and Joseph discuss the problems each men are being faced with as they are forced in and out of servitude and their own families and children's survival, Joshua returns to Ceske Budajovice as a member of the Queens notorious army. Karolina sees him, and is stricken with emotion and collapses to the ground. Members of European Royalty are at their wits end, trying to stop the powerful French people from invading and claiming all of their lands and holdings and decide to hold a mutli-national congress, called the Congress of Vienna. Wealthy land and business owners mingle with foreign dignitaries, Kings and Queens and other Royalty from every sitting Monarch and union in Europe. The delegations debate ways to try to end the fighting and bloodshed, redesigning boundaries and dividing nations in the process. With uncertainty and mayhem everywhere Frantisek and Anna, and Pavel and Karoline and their neighbors hear about a foreign land, America, that is giving away free farmland to anyone who is willing to farm it. They discuss the painful decision to leave their beloved Bohemia. For the unknown and uncertainty of journeying to a new land, along with the shortage of food and jobs, and the all out brutality of the time, the group finally decides they would be better off somewhere else. After walking for days to meet the train that will take them to the ship, that will cross the ocean and take them to America, storms ravage the ship. Not all passengers will make the voyage alive, causing the brave immigrants more distress. The three families endure the crossing and make it to New York harbor. With the long ocean voyage behind them, trying to find a place to settle, or live temporarily and find a job becomes another daunting task, but the pioneers eventually find a place to build a shelter and finally call home.
