The novel is set in France between 1910 and 1940 and tells a gripping story of family life, star-crossed lovers, and the impact of two world wars on a small town and an industrial family. It was first published posthumously in France in 1947, five years after the author's death in Auschwitz.
The novel is a crime story that begins with the apparent suicide of a young American student in Stockholm. The investigation leads a small team of police officers through a complex web of international espionage, corruption, and the real-life assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, exploring themes of treachery and the search for truth within a murky political world.
The novel is an epic historical fiction that spans over 300 years, from the late seventeenth century to the present day. It follows the descendants of two penniless Frenchmen who arrive in New France (North America) to work as woodcutters, or "barkskins". The story explores themes of environmental change, the history of the North American forests, cultural clashes between European settlers and Indigenous peoples, and the long-term consequences of resource exploitation.
