Edvard grows up on a remote mountain farmstead in Norway's Gudbrandstal, with his taciturn grandfather, Sverre. He has only a distant memory of his mother - a particular scent, the feeling of warmth, a blue dress. Edvard's parents died when he was three years old, and their death has always been shrouded in mystery - he has never been told where it took place.But he knows that the fate of his grandfather's brother, Einar, is somehow bound up with this mystery. A master carpenter, he disappeared off to war, leaving behind his workshop as well as a forest of flame birches. One day a coffin is delivered for his grandfather, long before his death - a meticulous, beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Perhaps Einar is not dead after all. After Sverre's death, Edvard sets out to unlock the secrets surrounding his family. His desperate quest for a mother and a father takes him on a long journey - from Norway to the Shetlands, and to France - and through a family's story spanning an entire tragic century.