In 1897 Sicily, twelve-year-old Maria Liotta dreams of learning to read while working for the powerful Abruzzi family. When her father's mysterious silence from America coincides with the death of her beloved grandfather, Maria and her mother make the harrowing journey across the Atlantic to find him. Meanwhile, Baldassare Licata, working for the same Abruzzis, makes a violent mistake that forces him to flee to America where he's trapped in a brutal labor camp. Years later, these two Sicilians reconnect in Brooklyn's teeming tenements, where they find love amid the chaos of early 20th century immigrant life. But when the infamous Black Hand threatens their community and the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire hits too close to home, they must decide whether to stay in increasingly dangerous New York or risk everything on a new start in America's untamed West, carrying with them nothing but hope and the lingering scent of lemons from home.