In the early 1900s, Lizzie and her sister Marmie are living in the steel towns along the Monongahela River near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After losing their mother at  a young age, both aspire to be lifelong mothers and begin a legacy of their own. While Marmie successfully marries and begins to bear several children, Lizzie is caught in an unfruitful marriage, and her husband’s deception about his actions in the military comes to light, showing a future where they would never together bear children.

Angry, frustrated, and longing for a family, Lizzie suffers through a long divorce process, falls in love, and is scorned by her new lover. As despair grows, Lizzie becomes lost in a sea of doubt and takes desperate actions to rid herself of her lot in life.

Lizzie’s Brass Buttons and Babies is a story about life in the steel city, a tumultuous time for steel workers and the nation as a whole with the rise of Prohibition, World Wars, and the Great Depression. Based on James E. Makin’s true family history, Lizzie’s story is a dive into the past and into the lives of our ancestors.

About the Author

James E. Makin is a Vietnam War Navy veteran and retired police officer. Following his retirement, he began working as a private investigator and within the security industry. For the past twenty years, genealogy research has been one of Makin’s passions, and he has constructed a rather extensive family tree. It was during this research when he discovered an article which led to the inspiration for Lizzie’s Brass Buttons and Babies.