<p>In this first novel of an epic family saga, master storyteller Howard Fast recounts the rise of a poor fisherman's son from the cataclysmic depths of the San Francisco earthquake to become the head of a powerful shipping empire. He will risk all for a forbidden love.</p> <p> <em>The Immigrants </em>evokes the emotion-ridden journey of rough hewn Dan Lavette as he builds a fortune in the shipping industry and marries into the gilded heights of Nob Hill society. Finding himself entombed in a loveless marriage to the daughter of San Francisco's richest family,Dan discovers solace and happiness with the beautiful daughter of a poor Chinese bookkeeper.</p>