Victor Marius is lost in a shipwreck off the coast of Cape Cod. But before he disappears beneath the waves he manages to release a strange box that he hopes will protect his legacy and his ideas. The box found by Amanda Malcolm, a woman who is considering leaving her abusive husband and fleeing to Boston. What’s inside the Puzzle box launches her on a journey of pain and discovery that takes her across the country and back. Along the way, she meets Plains Indians, ex-slaves, riverboat charlatans, and secretive workers who champion the U.S. labor movement.