Major Etienne Bonnaire, a principled, retired, veteran Officer of Napoleon’s Grand Army, is forced to go back to war due to financial difficulties. But in doing so, demotes his career rival, Captain Fabrice Delacroix, who will stop at nothing to get command of the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry back.
Etienne’s pregnant wife, Maria and Delacroix share a dark secret, with which he intends to undo Bonnaire’s plans and steal Maria away from him. Napoleon invades Russia, and in the heat of the summer of 1812, Delacroix informs her the Major is dead. But Maria’s hope and determination is undeterred, and to find the truth, she undertakes the journey to find her husband, dead or otherwise.
Etienne meets a mysterious Russian woman, Katya, and in the disaster of the retreat from Moscow, she will ultimately decide all their fates, and the fate of their descendants down the centuries.