In a shtetl in Imperial Russia, we meet the first of the Markoff women, beautiful, rebellious, red-haired Eve. As the new wife of David Markoff, Eve confronts the tyranny of her father-in-law's household, where women are treated as servants and men are treated as boys.
While the spirit of the revolution grows throughout Russia, Eve sows seeds off freedom beneath her father-in-law's roof. And as the lives of the Markoffs are increasingly threatened by Cossack flames, the love between Eve and David is destined for betrayal.
The son born to Eve grows up to become a revolutionary, forced to flee to America. There he bitterly rejects his past and paves the way for his daughter's marriage into Russian aristocracy. By the time Eve escapes to America, the lies that divide the Markoff family have separated mother and son forever. But the past must be given its due—in a showdown that sets rage against love.