by Inna Larsen

Anna Katz has one goal in life: to convince the women at the St. Paul, MN Garment Factory to join the union and fight for the working rights they justly deserve. When she meets the tall, handsome Nils Bjørnsen, a fiddler from Voss, Norway, she convinces him to join her at a union meeting.

Nils left the family farm-and bitter memories-to start a new life in America. He is charmed by the feisty, independent red head and soon discovers Anna's family left Russia in 1891 to escape persecution. The common bond they share as immigrants sets the basis for a budding friendship.

Anna, however, comes from a strict Jewish family, and her mother strenuously objects to her daughter's friendship with a non-Jew. Her father though, immediately takes a liking to Nils. He tells Anna to make her own decision, but advises that she choose someone of her own heritage and religion.

Anna convinces Nils to play his hardingfele fiddle at a union picnic. His music reaches out and soothes Anna's troubled mind, and she remembers her father's words: a violinist must have a good heart; it takes something of a man's soul to make the instrument sing.

After the concert, Anna contemplates her mother's commands and her father's sage advice. Her heart, however, tells her that Nils is a good man and she decides to meet him secretly.

Her decision leads to life-changing consequences. Hired thugs break Nils' hand and beat him viciously until he faces death's door. Anna, in turn, learns a shattering family secret that sends her fleeing from her home.

Can their love survive the deception and pain to come?