San Francisco, 1890s. Francie wants to travel the world and make her fortune. Her mechanical-savant brother Rooney wants to tinker in their uncle's shop. Mrs. La Fontaine, the ghost haunting their fortunetelling machine, wants to stay right where she is. And Big Jim, the carnival manager, wants Francie dead to keep his murderous past a secret. Not everyone is going to be happy — but fortunes will be told and, possibly, made.
The novel grew from Diana Benedict's short story "Pennies for Portents," first published in Fiction River: Alchemy & Steam.