A shocking serial murderer, a spectacular world’s fair, an exciting archaeological excavation, and the ravages of World War I…Catherine Jeppe, and her brother Sam experience things they never thought possible as they struggle to shed their working-class backgrounds of the last quarter of the 1800s. Each searches for their own very different, new, and exciting worlds, and their odysseys take them to Chicago, New York City, London, Paris, and the American Southwest. Along the way they meet unique people and become entangled in unforgettable adventures as Western society sheds its cocoon of rigid Victorian prejudices and spreads its wings to meet the test of the twentieth century. Through letters, journals, recollections, and vivid descriptions, their stories become a smorgasbord of personal and historical events liberally seasoned with authentic characters. Spanning more than fifty years, their metamorphosis lead each to discover their greatest challenge and reward is discovering oneself.