The Fukin family have fled Russia in response to the father's questioning of Tsar Aleksandr III's reversal of his father's reforms. Their name is changed to Fuller almost as soon as they disembark. Life is difficult in the squalors of turn-of-the-century Brooklyn, filled with heartbreak and struggle as well as joy and hope. The mother, Mariya, and her youngest daughter, Sonya, both struggle to find a way to balance Russian tradition with the reality of their lives in America.