Lyrical writing, quotable on every page, a story of love and survival set in America in the years of the Indian wars and the Civil War. Thomas McNulty, a young Irish immigrant meets John Cole a fellow countryman. They work in theatre, join the army, rescue and adopt an Indian girl, go through times of terrible hardship, and through everything hold together with courage and love. The story, often grim and brutal is told by Thomas in prose that sings off the page. One of the best books I've read.