In 1941, fifteen-year-old teenager Lina is taken from her Lithuanian home by the Soviet police, along with her mother, and brother Jonas. They are then hurled onto cattle cars with many other Lithuanians, without any explanation. Amongst all of this, most of the people aboard the cars are highly uncivil, further increasing the tension, with limited rations and no fresh air. She becomes very concerned about her father, as her train travels farther and farther away from home. She sees only a glimpse of her father on a separate train, uncertain of its destination. Slowly, her traveling companions travel across the Arctic Circle. Lina could never have imagined that things could get worse, but then they finally arrive at their destination, a labor