On a warm May night in San Francisco, the Ritz-Carlton ballroom shimmers with crystal and silver as a glittering, celebrity-studded crowd gathers for a charity dinner dance. The evening is perfect - until, just minutes before midnight, the room begins to sway. Glass shatters. And as the lights go out, people begin to scream . In the earthquake's aftermath, the lives of four strangers will converge. Sarah Sloane, the beautiful wife of a financial whiz, watches her perfect world fall to pieces . Grammy-winning singer Melanie Free, the event's headliner, comes to a turning point in her life and career . Photographer Everett Carson, a former war correspondent whose personal demons have demoted him to covering society parties, finds new purpose amid the carnage and Sister Maggie Kent, a nun who normally works in jeans and high-tops with the homeless, searches through the rubble - and knows instantly that there is much work to be done . As the city staggers back to life, a chain reaction of extraordinary events will touch each of the survivors. For Sarah, it begins with the discovery of a crime and a betrayal, then a strength she never knew she had. For Melanie, volunteering at a refugee camp will open new worlds of possibility. And Everett will be shaken by the unlikely relationship he forges with Maggie, who helps him rebuild his shattered life - and upends her own in the process. But as a year passes, and the anniversary of the earthquake approaches, more surprises are in store - as each discovers the unexpected gifts in a tragedy's wake and the amazing grace of new beginnings.