Confident and fiercly independent Rita travels back to her hometown of TokAlaska At the urging of her father she enters the dogsled race of her dreamsthe famed Iditarodwith a relentless pursuit Although Mark Williams hopes to become more than her coach for the race the walls that Rita has built around herself are to strong for human penetration Set against the bleak and demanding Alaskan landscape will Rita realize her dream alone Or will her dream demand at last that Rita examine her very soul