I've been a fan of the movie for years and finally found the time to read the novel. Sonja Massie bases the novel on the screenplay by Bob Dolman, so there isn't much additional information from the movie. I suggest you read the book first, and then see the movie. The story is about Joseph and Shannon both are struggling for freedom but for different reasons. Joseph wants freedom from poverty and injustice and Shannon a wealthy Irish landowner's daughter wants freedom to be her own person away from her domineering mother. Together they struggle to find that freedom in the form of land. They leave Ireland and travel to America where they are confronted by a city of corruption and sin. Ultimately their journey takes them to the freedom they are truly looking for, love.