This sequel to Rich Man, Poor Man begins with a father to be avenged, lives to be continued in one way or another, careers to be fashioned, guilt to be atoned for, hatred to wound, and love to heal. A new generation takes center stage in America and Europe, in a time of violence and peril; new bonds are formed, between cousin and cousin, sister and brother, strangers and lovers; there is ecstasy and terror, victory and defeat. The Jordaches survive.

The canvas is as rich as it is wide and the characterizations as wonderful as a master storyteller can make them, in a novel that stands completely on its own while it enhances the stories begun in Rich Man, Poor Man.