Anna-Maria Ruutu and Serepta Anderson are two women on opposite sides of the world, one in the far north of Europe, the other in the tropics. They are separated by five thousand, five hundred miles and a seven hour time difference. One has a close family and an intricate lineage, the other an incomplete sense of identity and "no name." Serepta tells of her life in turn of twentieth century Jamaica and Anna-Maria of hers, in Finland, including the effects of the Bolshevik Revolution in Petersburg, which leads to the Finnish Civil War, with its devastating consequences. Anna-Maria tells of how,...

It is the summer of 1808 and the lives of Lena-Sofia Johansdottir and her family are about to change forever as war sweeps across Swedish-Finland after a Russian invasion. The 700 year marriage of jealous Sweden to Finland is threatened by the new suitors from the east, intent on stealing away the bride. Napoleon has defeated Russia at Austerlitz, Nelson has won the Battle of Trafalgar, the American War of Independence has impacted Europe and Wilberforce is leading the campaign for abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. Against this backdrop of world transformations, little Lena-Sofia,...