The central characters of this book are a father who is a preacher and his 16-year-old son Elisha, who have become estranged. Elisha is hired as an amateur naturalist to accompany an expedition to the Michigan Upper Peninsula in 1844. While en route, his mother dies and his father sets out after him to give him the news and perhaps reconcile. The image of the two collars represents the stiff and formal relationship of these two characters—masculine, uncomfortable and proper.

The typography and collars suggest an earlier time and a bit of mystery in an appealing way.