All in the April Morning — Jean Saunders

Orphaned by the San Francisco earthquake, Bridget O'Connell must assume responsibility for herself and her eight-year-old sister Kitty. They face an uncertain future with only Bridget's fierce spirit to sustain them. An epic novel of one woman's struggle to control her own fate throughout the first half of the 19th century, in peace and in war, from the stricken west coast of America to the green horse-breeding country of Ireland.