Abby Fischer's sister, Cecelia, is dying with leukemia. Her cousin in San Francisco has a new assistant doing research in the use of x-rays as a cure for cancer. The family decides to move Cecelia from their home in San Jose to San Francisco for this experimental treatment. It's Cecelia's only hope. Dr. Robert King isn't promising this as a cure, but he has high hopes it will extend Cecelia's life for a few months.

Putting all her faith in Dr. King as their miracle worker, Abby is devastated and angry with God when Cecelia dies. The family is so far in debt with this illness, they have to sell their peach orchard and move to San Francisco permanently. While her father is back in San Jose wrapping up the details of the sale, San Francisco is devastated by an earthquake and resulting fires. Abby is separated from her family during the turmoil -- and from Robert. Can she find her way back to her family, back to Robert and more importantly, can she find her way back to God?

OUT OF THE RUINS, the first book in The Golden Gate Chronicles series, is set in the early 1900s when motorcars were a novelty and many new inventions were making life a little easier. Karen Barnett spans the period of over a year to tell Abby and Robert's story. The plotline moves along swiftly through one devastation after another with Cecelia's death, the earthquake, fires and separation from family and loved ones. Abby is a strong character and very opinionated. Robert has a quiet, unassuming demeanor, but strong feelings for Abby, so they clash on more than one occasion. OUT OF THE RUINS explores many tough questions about how God and science blend together, as it also brings out the injustices suffered by the Chinese during this time period.