Jacob looses his parents and runs away from his college finals. He jumps a circus train and talks his way into a vet job. He's an outsider who finds himself straddling two worlds. He falls in love with Marlena, August's wife. August is not a man to cross, but he's unpredictable so it's hard to say what, exactly, will cross him. 
 There's a lot going on in this book: a history lesson, a love story, questions of family and identity, right and wrong and responsibility. And a good story that pulls you in.