Anna, Amanda, Sara, and Eleanor. Four generations of women —- unique yet remarkably alike in strength of spirit —- born into a world changing with each new day. Together and apart they discover themselves, their great strength, their capacity for love, and their courage to invent their own lives. Their remarkable story spans 100 years, beginning with Anna, a young willful beauty who leaves New South Wales in 1890 for America —- a woman whose marriage to a well-born doctor leads to his expulsion from his Washington family. Anna's daughter, Amanda, becomes one of the most famous photographers of her lifetime; through her portraits —- of the pathos of the Depression, from Presidents to migrant farm workers —- she captures the soul of the 20th century. The ensuing generations —- Sara in the forties, and Eleanor in the sixties —- share Amanda's refusal to bow to convention. Like their mothers before them, they will charter vast new territory as daughters of the new world.