The Bootlegger’s Daughter: A San Francisco Tale
Joseph Andrew Cerny
FICTION | BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORICAL FICTION | UNITED STATES
Product Details
Publisher: Joseph Andrew Cerny
Release Date: November 10, 2025
Formats: Paperback, Hardcover, Ebook
ISBN: PB: 979-8993547510; HB: 979-8993547527; EB: 979-8993547503
Trim Size: 6 × 9
Page Count: 355
Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Waterstones
In San Francisco, in the post-1906-earthquake era, young Ann White—a daughter of Irish immigrants—does what it takes to survive. Amid a backdrop of poverty, politics, and Prohibition, her father turns to bootlegging, and Ann becomes his unlikely accomplice, transporting whiskey through the streets of San Francisco in a doll-covered wagon alongside her spirited, fun-loving sister Bette.
As the decades unfold—from the Spanish Flu and Prohibition to the Great Depression and World War II—Ann endures hardship after hardship. But as she makes her way through the gritty underbelly of a city in flux, complete with brushes with violence and a family strained by addiction, ambition, and misfortune, she nevertheless manages to live a life infused with joy, humor, and sisterly love.
Told through the lens of a sharp-eyed child and a resilient woman, The Bootlegger’s Daughter captures the heartache, patience and perseverance that defined a generation. At its heart lies the unforgettable bond between two sisters and the indomitable spirit of a girl who never stopped adapting, no matter the odds stacked against her.
Featuring real historical events and personal recollections passed down through generations, this meticulously researched, poignant narrative brings to life the untold history of one family’s survival in the face of relentless change.
About the Author
Joseph Cerny was born in San Francisco and is a descendant of a grandmother, great aunt, and two great-grandfathers who were bootleggers. In 1988, after graduating from the University of California, San Diego, with three degrees, including a minor in American History, he attended Eastern Virginia Medical School and graduated in 1992. After a career as a family physician spanning nearly thirty years, Cerny is now a volunteer for Placer County Museums in Northern California. He dresses up in period clothing and gives tours of old- town Auburn, a former Gold Rush town, in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains. He also gives tours of Bernhard House, an old hotel converted into a home, with wine-making complexes on the property.
Cerny enjoys talking and writing about American history, of which the story of his grandmother, Ann White, is an important example. The Bootlegger’s Daughter: A San Francisco Tale is his first novel.
Reviews
“Excellent book with exquisite details about the characters and their challenges, successes and failures. In addition, the author brings to life the City of San Francisco as it existed pre-Prohibition and thereafter.”
—Dennis Bennet, Amazon review
“The Bootlegger’s Daughter delights the reader with the childhood memories of a little girl growing up in the San Francisco of the 1920’s. A fictionalized memoir of sorts, Ann White tells the story of her Irish immigrant family as they struggle to survive poverty, prejudice, and prohibition. Reminiscent of the juvenile narratives of A Christmas Story and To Kill a Mockingbird, Ann’s story, engages with the innocent observations of a child, accompanied by interesting details about the time and the place.
As Ann grows up, she faces loss and hardship with determination and dignity to raise her own family, while maintaining her unbreakable bond with her beloved sister Bette.
Ann’s is the story of an outwardly ordinary person who lived an extraordinary life.”
—Harvey, Amazon review
Inside the Book
Working Together
Services Provided: Editing, Proofreading, Cover Design, Layout, SEO, Publishing, Book Sell Sheet
“I chose the all-inclusive package to self-publish my first book and it was worth every penny!! She is extremely experienced and I highly recommend her services. Despite my use of many programs like Mac Notes and Word to clean up my draft she still found thousands, not dozens or hundreds, of mistakes. Using my ideas she helped with the cover design, did proofreading, editing, copy editing, formatting and made numerous suggestions where I could expand or eliminate parts. She went through the book several times with a fine-toothed comb to make sure we caught mistakes, inconsistencies and discrepancies. She helped tremendously with getting my book onto the KDP site in proper format.”
—Joseph Andrew Cerny, author, The Bootlegger’s Daughter: A San Francisco Tale
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