This book series explores the first year in a young girl's life-Frances Dodge-who was the daughter of auto baron John Dodge-as she experiences adolescence at Meadow Brook Farm and her own Hilltop Lodge following the tragic events surrounding the loss of her father, her uncle and her sister. After the untimely deaths of John and Horace Dodge, Frances' mother and aunt became heirs to one of the largest fortunes in America. In Book One (Hilltop Lodge: Frances' Birthday), the reader learns how her mother and aunt sold the Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company in 1925 for an astounding $146 million-her mother's remarriage to lumber baron Alfred G. Wilson-and their permanent move to the 1500-acre Meadow Brook Farm. Here they lived in a large farm house for three years while Mrs. Dodge Wilson worked with the renowned Detroit architectural firm of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls to design and build an expansive, spectacular mansion-Meadow Brook Hall.