Young coal wagoner, Corbett Jones, has a bright future ahead of him. He's got a good job and the love of a beautiful girl, when he is struck with an unspeakable tragedy. In one bloody afternoon, he loses everyone he loves. Adrift in a sea of terrible grief, he seeks out his one remaining family member, the embarrassing father he barely knows.

Befriended by a tiny miner, a mothering prostitute and a powerful mine owner, Corbett navigates his way through trauma and into manhood. He discovers a love of reading and seeks to further his education. He is attractive to women but keeps them at a distance. To him, love equals death. Will he be able to put his tragic past behind him to find love again? Will the search for that love push him into ranching or will his love of reading propel him into being a schoolmaster?

From the mining country of southern Colorado to the logging camps of Northern Oregon, Corbett ranges across the landscape of the West in the late nineteenth century. He faces danger and adversity every step of the way, trying to become the man his father never was. Although he is devastated by loss, he battles a tremendous set of obstacles to achieve his destiny. Will his path always be a lonely one? Will the guilty constraints of his broken heart ease enough to allow him to love again?