"Set in 1876, right after the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Smith's new novel tells of a group of scientists, explorers, and others who traveled west after suffering significant losses during the Civil War. Their stories are told through the remembrances of Eleanor Peterson, a scientific illustrator in her late thirties who joins them to document a dinosaur fossil dig.

She journeys to the Montana badlands with her friend and mentor, the utterly fascinating Augustus Starwood, an aging portrait painter with a passion for Shakespeare.".

"What starts as a summer respite from the city is soon complicated by heartfelt arguments over prevailing theories of evolution, by Indians moving north after their defeat of Custer, and by rival scientists attempting to steal what could be the largest dinosaur remains ever uncovered. Exploring a desolate land, this ambitious and, at times contentious field crew learns from art and science how to move beyond the past, and how to rebuild their lives far from civilization."--BOOK JACKET.