In this exhilarating coming-of-age tale set in the late 19th century, a daring young woman braves the wilds of the mountainous Austrian-Italian borderâand the dangerous men who conspired with her missing father to smuggle tobaccoâin order to save her family.
Jole de Boer is just fifteen years old the first time she accompanies her fatherâa tobacco grower named Augustoâas he smuggles his product across the Italian border into Austria. She knows the dangers of the treacherous high mountain passesâborder guards, brigands, wild animals, ferocious weatherâbut she is proud that her father has asked her to join him. After all, without the extra money Augustoâs smuggling brings in, their family would starve.
But when Augusto mysteriously disappears during one of his trips, Jole must retrace the route he took to both find a buyer for her familyâs tobaccoâand the truth behind her fatherâs disappearance.
An epic tale of revenge, corruption, and salvation, The Soul of the Border is an unforgettable journey into the wild.