Having lost her father, the heroine of the novel "An Unquenchable Flame" Joanna Gray found herself face to face with the cruel world of seekers of fortune and adventure in the gold mines of the American North. The very struggle for existence took a lot of strength from her, and only loyalty and devotion helped her survive and become happy.... It was a fateful day in the life of Count Esmond: the ringing of wedding bells mercilessly and inevitably gave way to funeral prayers when the beautiful bride Dorothea died, never having time to become his wife. Her place in Esmond's life was taken by Dorothea's cousin Magda, but before this happened, the heroes had to go through many trials ("Dancing in the Dust").