A story of passion and f~.~e that sweeps from

the mansions of New York s wealthy Irish to

the drab roominghouses of the working-class

poor they employ, Shannon traces the lives and

loves of two couples ensnared by their dreams.

New York, 1913. The city pulses with the

promise -- and the painful consequences -- of

a new era of wealth and progress. For most

Americans, the war in Europe is only a distant

rumble; but for munitions tycoon Meath

Sullivan, a self-made, ruthless entrepreneur,

the war spells immense profit.

Meath attempts to exploit a brilliant but

struggling industrial genius, Kevin O Farrell,

to modernize his plant, and introduces the

handsome young man to his daughter,

Shannon. Too late he sees his mistake: the

extraordinary beauty who was to marry into

even greater wealth falls in love with the poor

engineer, and against Meath s wishes, they

marry. Meath becomes Kevin s bitter

adversary.

Interwoven with the O Farrells fate is that

of another family: Hannibal Jones, a college-

educated black man, and his lovely wife,

Phoebe. Hannibal once saved Kevin s life, but

tragedy overshadows Kevin s efforts to repay

the debt, as his brother becomes the agent of

Phoebe s destruction. And even as Kevin s for-

tunes propel him from a modest tool shop in

the teeming garment district to an industrial

empire of his ~wn, his once-radiant wife edges

toward madness after the loss of their firstborn

child, refusing to believe her baby is dead.