The feral behaviour of their adopted American son forces a Russian immigrant couple to confront their difficult marriage in this moving novel about adoption and identity.

Maya was an exuberant, adventurous Russian exchange student in America when she met the more earnest Alex, who had immigrated there earlier with his parents. Their marriage tames Maya's dreams of becoming a chef, and forces her to live in close (and suffocating) proximity to her overbearing in-laws. Maya and Alex adopt a baby boy from Montana, whose teenage mother leaves him with the cryptic message 'Don't let my baby do rodeo.' At eight years old, Max's behaviour becomes odd: he often disappears, talks to animals, refuses to sleep in a bed... Convinced that the only way to help their son is to reconnect with his biological parents in order to know his roots, Maya insists that the family drive to Montana. But this road trip turns out to be a personal journey of self-discovery for herself, and in a different way, for Alex as well, as it helps both define who they are and where they really belong. They learn to accept the love they all have for one another as their true home, and Max as the mirror of their love.