Carol Edgarian Book order

"Meet Vera Johnson, the uncommonly resourceful fifteen-year-old illegitimate daughter of Rose, notorious proprietor of San Francisco's most legendary bordello and ally to the city's corrupt politicians. Vera has grown up straddling two worlds - the madam's alluring sphere, replete with tickets to the opera, surly henchmen, and scant morality, and the violent, debt ridden domestic life of the family paid to raise her. On the morning of the great quake, Vera's worlds collide. As the shattered city burns and looters vie with the injured, orphaned, and starving, Vera and her guileless sister, Pie, are cast adrift. Vera disregards societal norms and prejudices and begins to imagine a new kind of life. She collaborates with Tan, her former rival, and forges an unlikely family of survivors. Together they navigate their way beyond disaster" --Publisher

Set against the backdrop of the Armenian genocide in 1915, the story follows Casard, who emigrates to America after witnessing her family's massacre. As her daughter Araxie marries outside their culture, tensions rise, threatening to divide the family further. The narrative is enriched by Seta, Casard's granddaughter, who navigates her identity between Armenian and American cultures. Through her journey, Seta seeks to reconcile her family's painful legacy, ultimately discovering wisdom that empowers the next generation.