It is July 1917, and 21-year-old Anna McLaren hides aboard her father's ship, the Pole Star, due to sail from Scotland to Russia. Anna is determined to save her Russian grandmother from the terror that Lenin is causing throughout Russia. She also wants to know why her grandmother has warned her against Aleksandr Rostovich, a young man she met whilst visiting her grandmother, and to whom she has since been writing loving letters. Once in Russia, Anna and her grandmother become involved with a local aristocratic family who are fleeing the Red Army. So begins an epic journey across Russia as Anna and her followers chase the retreating Pole Star from port to port, desperate to reach it before it sets sail back for England. Along the way, Anna must learn about survival and the cost of betrayal and true love...