I picked up this hidden gem of a novel in an independent bookstore.  It is written by Stephanie Daniels, a self-published author. Most people would never know about this beautifully-written story except for blogs like this one bringing it to their attention. 

Sixteen-year-old Whimsey Greatheart, the daughter of a wealthy Chicago banker, thinks her biggest worry is what the society page in the local newspaper has to say about her. Then, in one night, she loses her family and all her earthly possessions in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, leaving her with only her life and the clothes on her back. No longer a privileged upper-class girl, she now has to dodge street gangs as she labors in a sweatshop for meager pay under a heartless matron supervisor.  

Daniels has done a splendid job of pressing home how fleeting our earthly possessions can be.  Whimsey’s faith in God appears often enough for the faithful to identify with, but not so much it would make those who are not believers uncomfortable. The prosy descriptions are a pleasure to read and the historical flavor of the 1870s is impeccable.  

This is book one of the uncertain riches series. If the other books are as good as this one, it will be well worth your time to read them all.