{"product_id":"the-nature-of-fragile-things","title":"The Nature of Fragile Things","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eApril 18, 1906: A massive earthquake rocks San Francisco just before daybreak, igniting a devouring inferno. Lives are lost, lives are shattered, but some rise from the ashes forever changed.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSophie Whalen is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to get out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and agrees to marry a man she knows nothing about. San Francisco widower Martin Hocking proves to be as aloof as he is mesmerizingly handsome. Sophie quickly develops deep affection for Kat, Martin's silent five-year-old daughter, but Martin's odd behavior leaves her with the uneasy feeling that something about her newfound situation isn't right. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThen one early-spring evening, a stranger at the door sets in motion a transforming chain of events. Sophie discovers hidden ties to two other women. The first, pretty and pregnant, is standing on her doorstep. The second is hundreds of miles away in the American Southwest, grieving the loss of everything she once loved. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe fates of these three women intertwine on the eve of the devastating earthquake, thrusting them onto a perilous journey that will test their resiliency and resolve and, ultimately, their belief that love can overcome fear. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom the acclaimed author of \u003ci\u003eThe Last Year of the War \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eAs Bright as Heaven\u003c\/i\u003e comes a gripping novel about the bonds of friendship and mother love, and the power of female solidarity.","brand":"Berkley Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51943502151911,"sku":"9780451492197","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0449\/4075\/5096\/files\/imageloader_c0e083b1-774d-4478-85d2-a3ce3a79926c.jpg?v=1775324379","url":"https:\/\/arvidabookco.com\/products\/the-nature-of-fragile-things","provider":"Arvida Book Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}