Gain: Richard Powers

In Lacewood, Illinois, Laura Bodey, a divorced mother of two and real estate agent, plunges into a new existence when she learns that she has cancer.

This same small town is home to Clare & Company, a soap manufacturer begun by three brothers in nineteenth-century Boston. Over the course of more than a century, it transforms into a powerful international corporation.

Clare & Company`s stunning growth reflects America`s kaleidoscopic history, yet for Laura and her family, this wild success has profound and lasting consequences.