High in the Austrian Alps, ringed by the Three Sisters and the majestic Praying Hands, lies the tiny village of Rosenau, so isolated that the arrival of a postcard is an event that sets everyone talking. Life in Rosenau revolves around harvesting hay, tending animals and making cheese. Against this humble backdrop, Rosina Lippi unfolds the grand passions -- love, desire, courage, revenge, loyalty, envy, grief -- that animate the human heart.

The novel opens in 1909 with Anna of Bengat homestead and her passion for rough, honest Peter, her husband, and for their children, and for her dead sister's boys, feebleminded Stante and crippled Michel. As the years pass, we follow the fortunes of Anna's children and grandchildren, and the connected families of Bent Elbow homestead and the Wainright's clan, through two world wars and into the late 1970s.

As we read, each chapter adds layers of meaning from a different character's point of view, and the life of Rosenau gathers force and complexity, like a living thing. We don't notice while we're watching, but when the tale is done we're stunned by its fullness and beauty.