This excellent work of fiction tells the moving story of Klara Bozic, an immigrant from Croatia in 1883 who arrives with her new Croatioan husband in the U.S., settling in Thirsty, a small steel mill town outside of Pittsburg. Klara raises three children and, though she fled domestic violence from her father in her native country, lives daily with violence from her husband Drago in her new country. The book shows the longterm effects of domestic abuse on individuals and the family, and the hardship of life for men working in the steel mills in the early 20th century.

When Kara's daughter grows up and also marries an abusive man, continuing the cycle of violence in the family, Kara is haunted by dreams in which she takes revenge on her tormentors. What she endures and how pulls herself and her daughter out of the cycle to find some measure of peace and stability is the theme of the novel.

Author Kristin Bair O'Keefe wrote a complete draft of this book as her thesis for her MFA in Creative Writing at Columbia College Chicago. Her book is based on her own experiences of the harsh life of a working class community dependent on the steel industry.

Source: ARC provided by Phenix Publicity ( )