In this sequel to "A Shunned Man," Sepp Klemens believes his lonesome days are behind him as he settles comfortably into the modern world with his new wife, Claire. But Sepp is destined to face trouble once again, almost before his honeymoon is over. This time the drama takes place in California, where he and Claire try to shed new light on his late mother's childhood in a magnificent Sonoma Valley vineyard. Sepp's mother, Francesca Proul, eloped with Gunther Klemens at the age of nineteen and never spoke of her family with Sepp. Now he discovers that his gentle mother's early years were far more worldly and difficult than he had ever known. In meeting her family, he learns of the challenges faced by his late parents, but finds that the real reason they had vanished from California is elusive. The volatile Proul family invites Sepp and Claire into the exotic world of the Sant' Severo Winery and Sepp quickly develops a bond with his remarkable great-grandfather, one that contains choices beyond anything he ever imagined. But along with the excitement of discovering his new relations, his arrival causes dark secrets that were buried for decades to emerge, and those secrets may devastate the entire family.