However hard we struggle, if we're born under an unlucky star, can we ever resist our fate? Born of a father from the gentry and a mother of low birth, the hero of this story, Demetrius, was never destined for an easy life in nineteenth-century Ukraine. Both his parents die and he is disowned by his grandfather. But his destiny is far more cruel than we could imagine: when visiting Russia, he's falsely imprisoned and suffers physical and mental abuse for years. Eventually he escapes and proves his innocence - but is he now free? "The doubts and sadness that had plagued his life before prison...