The time and place of action of the novel is the last quarter of the 17th century, the North American continent. The history of three generations of the Heathcote family is not just a fierce struggle for the right to find their happiness in the land of their new homeland. This is - in miniature - the history of the confrontation between the English-speaking settlers and the native inhabitants of the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, very often written in blood; a story full - due to the tragic intertwining of the destinies of the heroes - of surprises and mysteries that keep the reader, as is usually the case with Cooper, in unrelenting tension until the final chapters of the novel.