Book excerpt: The lives of Roxie and Alfred are about to change forever. Their relationship was already rocky from past transgressions. But now, moving from their safe but meager life on a farm in North Carolina to the thriving, gritty northern metropolis of Detroit, Michigan, at the height of Prohibition, they will face the criminal underbelly of the city, the hopelessness of the Great Depression of 1929, and the stress and loss of World War II. Their ability to successfully thrive while coping with adversity is the legacy they leave their extended family, who pick up where Roxie and Alfred leave off and take on life in the big city one day at a time.