John Trevena's novel, originally published in 1920, takes two characters from the Dartmoor countryside on a dramatic journey of romance that lasts fourteen years. Ernest Southcombe, orphaned at an early age and raised by a strict uncle and his wife, falls in love as a teenager to Gilda Dewstone, the young daughter of an uneducated, religious fanatic. They are torn apart by forces greater than their own. Ernest is compelled to attend a church-operated farming school in Canada where, among a group of misfit students, he receives an unexpected education into the sins of mankind. He makes decisions that lead him away from Gilda. Her path to adulthood winds its way to Bristol as she tries to find purpose without Ernest. Along their journey they are confronted by family members and strangers who scheme against them and others who vie for their affections. When Ernest returns to England, after failing to make a career on the plains of Canada, he encounters new challenges from familiar faces. Meanwhile, Gilda must decide whether she will accept a life of comfort offered by Hugh Brandon, a kind and wealthy gentleman who she does not love. Her heart remains true to Ernest, but can she find him and renew their adolescent love? Will the people seeking to keep them apart succeed? In the end, will Ernest and Gilda share a purpose for their lives as World War I rages on the battlefield of Flanders?… (more)