When Gustaf and Anna Klar and their three children leave Sweden for New York in 1897, they take with them a terrible secret and a longing for a new life. But their dream of starting over is nearly crushed at the outset: a fire devastates Ellis Island just as they arrive, and then the relentlessly harsh conditions and lack of work in the city make it impossible for Gustaf to support his family. An unexpected gift allows the Klars to make one more desperate...

"A young Swedish boy finds himself in penniless and alone in California. He travels East in search of his brother, moving on foot against the great push to the West. Driven back over and over again on his journey through vast expanses, Håkan meets naturalists, criminals, religious fanatics, Indians, and lawmen, and his exploits turn him into a legend. Diaz defies the conventions of historical fiction and genre (travel narratives, the bildungsroman,...

Sinopsis: Håkan Söderström, conocido como "el Halcón", un joven inmigrante sueco que llega a California en plena Fiebre del Oro, emprende una peregrinación imposible en dirección a Nueva York, sin hablar el idioma, en busca de su hermano Linus, a quien perdió cuando embarcaron en Europa. En su extraño viaje, Håkan se topará con un buscador de oro irlandés demente y con una mujer sin dientes que lo viste con un abrigo de terciopelo y zapatos...