The Reichmanns are a prosperous farming family. The envy of Blue Earth County, Minnesota, they delight in their good fortune and their three young sons. But when the Second World War shatters their dreams, the youngest, Billy Ray, vows to conquer the world that has so betrayed them. It’s no accident that he becomes an enormously successful oil prospector, driven to tame the land that makes him rich and powerful, yet always leaves him wanting. Moving from the oil fields of Alaska to the country estates of the English aristocracy, Billy Ray seeks forgiveness in the arms of the women he seduces, and deliverance from the land he so ruthlessly exploits.