In 1808, when Emma meets and marries Eric Montclair (the famed "most handsome man west of the Appalachians"), this young daughter of prominent St. Louis Citizens believes a fairy tale has just begun. Instead, her husband's angelic looks quickly prove only to mask the monstrous soul all too capable of possessive emotions and physical abuse. Praying for mercy, she is devastated when Eric insists on her joining his yearlong group expedition to the Pacific Ocean, following the trail Lewis and Clark blazed just a few years earlier. By the time cartographer Luke Bowen realizes Emma's plight, it's too late to easily untangle what has become an epic web of lies, theft, murder, courtroom drama, and a deep longing for love. Only God can show them the way out.