A Square of Apples: The Journey of Daniel Fischer

It is 1864. For the Kingdom of Bavaria, certain war looms; the new king, Ludwig II, shows a lack of interest in affairs of state and apprehension grows about encroaching military pressure from the Kingdom of Prussia and the Empire of Austria. Meanwhile, not far from the Austrian border, Daniel Fischer is content to tend his family's orchards on their farm outside the town of Miesbach. Daniel hates the dirt and flurry of cities. He dreams of one day purchasing his own property and marrying Lizzie Chormann, secretly the love of his life. On the day that Daniel gathers his courage and decides to begin his courtship, he learns that Jacob, his older brother and newest member of the town's watchmaker guild, has just become engaged to Lizzie. Moreover, Jacob plans to take Lizzie all the way to Civil War-embattled America and open his own shop in Philadelphia, a city crowded with half a million people. Daniel confronts Jacob. The brothers fight, but at the wedding Jacob offers Daniel his hand in peace. Daniel refuses. A week later, still struggling with heartbreak, Daniel flees Miesbach and enlists in the 39th Regiment of the Royal Bavarian Fusiliers. Five years later, Daniel is a hardened veteran and believes that he has finally set aside his feelings for Lizzie. And then he learns that she has written from Philadelphia; Jacob is dead.