Slavery...Polygamy...Prostitution...and the Plague—
The Golden City Has Its Secrets.
A 2017 RITA Finalist in Mainstream Fiction
In 1903, San Francisco's Chinatown is teeming with vice just blocks away from the Golden City's aristocrats, but wealthy Will Firestone sees the district as a potential market for his shipping enterprise. Dazzled by an exotic young widow from Canton, he is drawn into the immigrant enclave, a decision that will rock his foundation and lead him down a treacherous path.
Country girl Mandy Culpepper is only fifteen when she's orphaned and brought under the protection of the Firestone name. Grateful for her privileged status, she's determined to give back by helping Chinese immigrant girls in jeopardy, even if it means facing dangers that put her at odds with both her guardian and those in power.
Following their own divergent paths, Mandy and Will are caught up in the rising tension between city power brokers and the reviled foreigners. But an intruder no one bargained for will bring them together in a fight against a horrifying disease – a scourge that cares nothing for race or social standing or the love one person feels for another.
Who will survive? Who will not?
ADDITIONAL RECOGNITION FOR The Depth of Beauty:
Shelf Unbound 2016 "Notable Indie"
Bookstores without Borders Lyra Award for Historical Fiction
Chanticleer Book Reviews Goethe Award – First in Category: North American Turn of the Century
The Depth of Beauty is Book Two in A.B.Michaels' historical fiction series "The Golden City." Other titles in the series include The Art of Love, The Promise, The Price of Compassion and Josephine's Daughter.
All titles in this series are stand-alone reads.