In the early 1900s, in Europe, there is scorn and stigma when young lovers marry out of their religion. Tova is a child of such love. At the tender age of thirteen, when she discovers she is Jewish on her mother's side, Tova is devastated. Tova is devastated again, when, after years of preparing to leave Poland with her family for America, free of the problems of a mixed marriage, her parents are run down and killed by a runaway horse and cart. Her spirit bent but not broken, Tova decides to make the journey on her own. She sneaks aboard a cargo ship seeking a fresh start, freedom, and opportunity. But later, fearful of the brutish captain, and the prospect of being rejected at Ellis Island, Tova jumps into the sea.