While fulfilling his dead father"s dream of creating a prosperous farm in California, Joseph Wayne comes to believe that a magnificent tree on the farm embodies his father"s spirit. His brothers and their families share in Joseph"s prosperity andthe farm flourishes - until one brother, scared by Joseph"s pagan belief, kills the tree and brings disease and famine on the farm. Set in familiar Steinbeck country, To a God Unknown is a mystical tale, exploring one man"s attempt to control theforces of nature and to understand the ways of God.