Robert grew up in a small coal mining town in Scotland. His father and brothers worked in the mines but Robert made every effort to avoid them. At 15 he enlisted in the army to fight in WWI and amazingly survived. He soon married his school time sweetheart Margaret that he met at a dance. Robert was determined to have a better life than his parents and searched out better paying jobs…….but that often meant moving. They emigrated to Canada, then to the States, it seemed to me his wife was bribed with the promise of a better and bigger house and more money each time. She always did his bidding. The story is fact and fiction, it follows the author’s grandparents. A quick easy read, the characters are well developed, but not necessarily likeable. The Scottish dialect might be a challenge at the beginning but you soon get to understand it.

The saga of Robert Frank Sharp starts when he is 12 years old and follows different trials and tribulations from immigrating, survival, business, family, marriage, war, law, birth, death, labor unions, work...you name it, this book has it. Basically, the stuff that ultimately ends up making up a life. It does so at a pace that is not too slow as to be sluggish, but not to fast as to be confusing. I found myself gripped and endeared by the people, their thoughts, the circumstances they overcome, how they overcome them and the choices they make accepting or defying those circumstances.

The thing about this story, is that it can be anyone's history in any family.

As someone who doesn't normally read historical fiction, I found that this book might change my mind about the genre. It wasn't weighed down by historical events, but instead incorporated them to the everyday living that happens around them and ultimately shaped by them. It sparked conversations with co-workers and friends about what ends up summing up a life, what makes a life a good life, and what events end up shaping different paths in a lifetime. I found myself comparing it with stories like Upton Sinclair's The Jungle or Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes in that it made me connect to the human experience of living and the regret and successes that come with that. No spoilers, but a lot of living happens in the span of 100 years.