A long-held family secret, addiction, and mental illness, but also triumph over adversity. These thirteen stories about an Iowa farm family move from boxing matches to stay afloat in the Depression-era rural Midwest to the fashion district of 1960s San Francisco to federal prison in the 1970s. Based on the real lives of the ten members of the Rubel family over one hundred years, these intersecting tales take us through farm work, family discord, weddings and funerals, rehabilitation and loss. Through sheer resourcefulness and risk-taking, some individuals succeed while others succumb to the pull of their compulsions or mental-health disorders. Told with both warmth and chilling candor, these compelling stories remind us how families have the power to draw us together or drive us apart.
