When the novel begins in 1922, protagonist Yona is a two-year-old girl named Inge Juttner, who lives in Berlin with her parents, Siegfried and Alwine. Her life changes completely when she is kidnapped by a mysterious woman named Jerusza and taken deep into the forests of Eastern Poland, where she grows to adulthood in almost total isolation.

Yona has a birthmark shaped like a dove, so Jerusza names her Yona, the Hebrew word for “dove.” Through this pairing, Yona comes to embody the dove’s symbolism, representing hope and peace for the Jewish refugees. In the forest, Yona learns how to survive, heal, and even kill, and Jerusza tells her she is destined for important things. As an adult, Yona encounters groups of Polish Jews fleeing Nazi persecution and helps them survive the war by hiding in the deep forests she knows so well. Among the survivors, Yona finds love, learns about loss, and discovers the secrets of her identity.

When Yona ventures into a Polish village to help an injured child, she encounters her father, Siegfried Juttner, who is now a Nazi officer overseeing the murders of Jews and sympathizers in the village.