On a warm May night in San Francisco, the Ritz-Carlton ballroom shimmers as a glittering, celebrity-studded crowd gathers for a charity dinner dance. The evening is perfect&mdash;until, just minutes before midnight, the room begins to sway&hellip;.<br><br>In the earthquake&rsquo;s aftermath, the lives of four strangers will converge.&hellip; Sarah Sloane, the wife of a financial whiz, watches her perfect world fall to pieces&hellip;. Grammy-winning singer Melanie Free comes to a turning point in her life and career&hellip;. Photographer Everett Carson finds new purpose amid the carnage&hellip;and Sister Maggie Kent, a nun who works with the homeless, searches through the rubble&mdash;and knows that there is much to be done&hellip;.<br><br>As the city staggers back to life, a chain reaction of extraordinary events will touch each of the survivors&hellip;. Sarah discovers a crime and a betrayal, then a strength she never knew she had. Volunteering at a refugee camp opens new worlds of possibility for Melanie. Everett will forge an unlikely relationship with Maggie, who helps him rebuild his shattered life&mdash;and upends her own in the process. And as a year passes each discovers the unexpected gifts in a tragedy&rsquo;s wake&hellip;and the amazing grace of new beginnings.<br><br>Throughout these enthralling pages, Danielle Steel creates a stunning array of contrasts &mdash;from the dazzle of a society benefit to the chaos of a makeshift hospital, from the pampered lives of rock stars to the quiet heroism of emergency volunteers. It is her most powerful and life-affirming novel to date.