Presents the story of early twentieth-century day laborer Robert Grainer, who endures the harrowing loss of his family while struggling for survival in the American West against a backdrop of radical historical changes.

"When an accident leaves Cassandra Barton incapacitated, she spends her time compiling a book of stories about the men working on the Santa Fe Railroad. But worry grows as revolutionaries set out to destroy the railroad. As the danger intensifies, Cassie and her longtime friend Brandon must rely on their faith to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way"--

"A groundbreaking, breathtaking history of the Chinese workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad, helping to forge modern America only to disappear into the shadows of history until now"--

Describes the experiences of Chinese immigrants to the United States in the nineteenth century, their work on the transcontinental railroad, and also discusses the Chinese Exclusion Act.

"Tsanko Petrov, a railroad worker, finds millions of leva [Bulgarian currency] on the train tracks. He decides to turn the money over to the police, for which the state rewards him with a new wristwatch that soon stops working. Meanwhile, Julia Staikova, head of the PR department of the Ministry of Transport, loses Petrov's old watch, a family relic. Here starts his desperate struggle to recover both his old watch and his dignity."--Publisher's website....

A harrowing and redemptive immigrant story for readers of Pachinko. A Chinese railroad worker and his young daughter--sold into servitude--in 19th century California search for family, fulfillment, and belonging in a violent new land. "Heaven and earth do not pick and choose. They see everything as straw dogs." A sweeping historical novel of the American West from the little-seen perspective of those who helped to build it, Straw Dogs of the Universe...