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For California's Gold
A Novel by JoAnn Levy
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T
he inspiring story of reluctant forty-niner Sarah Daniels, timid mother of four who, fearful of losing her westering husband, experiences all the desperation and danger, exhilaration and triumph of the nation's epic adventure. On the perilous journey west--a 2,000-mile gauntlet of cholera, insanity, and deadly accident--Sarah discovers the courage and fortitude necessary to save her family on the terrifying 40-Mile Desert, where gold is forgotten in a struggle to stay alive.
In California, penniless and confronting the hard reality of survival on the frontier, Sarah is determined to earn the money to get her children safely back to Illinois. She opens her Sacramento restaurant with the help of songwriter-auctioneer Stephen Massett, one of several historical figures populating the story. When the devastating flood of 1850 destroys her business, Sarah moves to Nevada City, only to see it ravaged by fire the following year. In devoting herself to its renewal, Sarah gradually realizes that this rough little town, and not distant Illinois, is home.

Winner - 2001 WILLA Award
Best Historical Fiction

"JoAnn Levy is one marvelous researcher and a fine novelist,
and she has dramatized the total gold rush experience like
no one before her." - Folio

"compassionate and captivating...written lyrically and from the heart, with
an exceptional portrayal of day to day life that allows the reader to enter
another world" - Placerville Mountain Democrat

"vivid and affecting....commands the reader's awe and deep sympathies....
a fine work of historical fiction" - Dallas Morning News.

"a quietly eloquent tale" - Publishers Weekly

"evokes the landscape of a now-vanished countryside....fills a crucial gap"
- San Francisco Chronicle

"skillfully weaves historical details of everyday life, the landscape and
the politics"-Denver Post

"Crowded with authentic detail, written with enviable grace and flair,
For California's Gold offers its readers a memorable story of tragedy and
courage. In sum, JoAnn Levy has enriched gold rush literature."
- J. S. Holliday, author, Rush for Riches, and director emeritus, California
Historical Society


"Heroically assimilating the primary sources of the Gold Rush, JoAnn Levy
has created a novel that speaks with the panoramic force of history and the
intimate voice of private experience. Here in fiction based on the record
is the story of how one woman, alongside other women, left home, crossed
the continent, loved, suffered, served, prevailed, embraced life and helped
found a commonwealth." -Dr. Kevin Starr, State Librarian of California

"What a pleasure to read a work of fiction that so effectively captures
the historical authenticity of the gold rush period....a fine piece of
work!" -Malcolm Rohrbough, author, Days of Gold, and professor of history,
University of Iowa


"I LOVED the book! Levy is a master at weaving history and humanity into a
powerful, haunting, and unforgettable tale of hope, despair, courage, and
passion." - Marlene Smith-Baranzini, editor, The Shirley Letters from the
California Mines, 1851-1852

"A remarkable act of historical imagination, this richly detailed novel
(based on eyewitness accounts) brings the day-to-day life of the gold rush
vibrantly alive. As in her first novel, Daughter of Joy, JoAnn Levy has
shown she has a great gift for delving inside historical characters.... A
compelling read." -Michael Kowalewski, past president Western Literature
Association, and editor,
Gold Rush: A Literary Exploration

For California's Gold
A Novel by JoAnn Levy

University Press of Colorado
ISBN 0-87081-566-0     $24.95

 

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