The Nature Of Fragile Things

I was in the mood for historical fiction so that is why I read The Nature Of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner. This is a story about a woman named Sophie who emigrates to the United States from Ireland. She lands in a tenement in New York City. She can barely scrape by and is unable to send money home to her widowed mother. She reads an add for a mail order bride. A man from San Francisco is interested in taking a wife to help him raise his five year old daughter. Sophie travels to San Francisco. Within a half hour of getting off the train she gets married at the courthouse to a complete yet handsome stranger. After that they go to his boarding house to meet his daughter. Five year old Kate is virtually silent since the death of her mother. Sophie is a kind woman who doesn't understand her husband's aloof behavior but she bonds with Kate by being patient and trustworthy. Sophie becomes involved with two other women during the earthquake of 1906. Their lives become intertwined during the catastrophe. The story about the women and the girl overcoming fear with love was riveting and hard to put down.