It is 1836 in Suffolk, England. Eighteen-year-old blacksmith Silas Turner is an idealist who is passionate about injustice, the desperate situation of workers in rural East Anglia, and his family's acceptance of their station in life. Silas dreams of seeking a new life in America, and one day returning with land and money to claim his sweetheart's hand. But he has no idea that fate is about to intervene and change everything. Soon, two unrelated events transform Silas into a fugitive, forcing him to hurriedly escape to America to avoid possible exportation—or worse. Years later, still considered a fugitive, Silas eventually heads west with the pioneers to fulfill his long-held dream of claiming land. Will he be successful? In 2013, his descendent, Sy Turner, is about to find out when he travels to East Anglia to see the places he has read about in his forbear's journals. As he uncovers the surprising truth of his ancestor's early life in England, Sy meets the woman who will help him close the circle on his unfinished ancestral story. In a tale of love, loss, friendship, and betrayal, a scandal prompts a young blacksmith to emigrate from Suffolk to America to seek a new life as a pioneer in the uncharted west.