Pregnant and unwed, Anna Jorgesen is disowned and sent to America from her beloved Denmark to marry the baby's father. With her heart full of hopes and dreams, she reunites with Jorn Stryker. He reluctantly agrees to marry her in order to maintain her family's help with his business of assisting young men to emigrate to America.

Each year when he returns to Denmark for his next group of emigrants, Jorn assigns a farm hand, Halvor Hansen, to look after Anna. Halvor begins to fall in love with her. Anna must decide if she can return his love or if she must remain steadfastly loyal to her harsh husband, who seems to care little for her or their growing family.

Anna becomes more self-reliant as she grows into womanhood and faces disappointments in her turbulent marriage to Jorn—until something happens that rips her world apart. Her life changes in more ways than she could ever have imagined. She is forced to make a painful decision that could turn the entire community against her. With the unforeseen, far-reaching consequences of the choice she makes, will everything be lost to her? Or will she at last find the life of her dreams in America?