After his parents are killed in a pogrom and he becomes responsible for his baby sister, a budding young musician flees the shtetl and finds refuge in Vilna. There, Reuven becomes a member of the Bund and an underground fighter trying to overthrow the Czar. A companion to Lasky's earlier book, The Night Journey, this involves some of the same characters and events. It is an excellent evocation of the historical period and of a young man's struggle to fulfill his aspirations and his duties.