In June 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the working farm where he has just served a year for involuntary manslaughter. His mother is long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett intends to pick up his eight-year-old brother and head west where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the working farm have hidden in the trunk of the warden's car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett's future. Spanning just ten days and told from multiple points of view, Towles' third novel will satisfy fans of his multi-layered literary styling, while providing an array of new and richly imagined settings, characters, and themes.