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The Silver Queen
by Jane Candia Coleman
Augusta
Tabor, the first Silver Queen
Publisher: Leisure Books (Dec. 2008)
Augusta Pierce has her eyes set on
Horace Tabor, a Vermont master stone mason hired by her father, from
the first moment she sees him. Left behind when he goes to Kansas
to shore up the abolitionist movement, Augusta misses him
terribly. His letters seem formal and intent on decreasing her
fears for his safety as the abolitionist and pro-slavery forces make
Kansas as the political battleground. When Horace
(nicknamed "Haw") returns from Kansas to marry Augusta, she moves from
being a daughter to an independent woman who faces the hardships of
trying to settle a home in Kansas. Determined to make a success
of this new venture and her marriage, Augusta faces fear and hardship
with resoluteness, thriftiness and creativity. When rumors of
gold reach her husband's ears, Augusta followed him to Colorado.
Alone most of the time while her husband is out prospecting, Augusta
Tabor provides the stable force within the family, running a store and
pinching pennies, the very pennies her husband wants to give away to
all those who ask. When Horace is elected mayor of Leadville and
one of his schemes hits paydirt in Colorado's Silver Boom, suddenly
their life changes forever. Whereas their life had been a battle
against the elements with poverty always a step away, now the Tabors
are among the richest people in Colorado. Augusta is now the wife
of Colorado's Lieutenant Governor. With unlimited power and
wealth, Haw Tabor sets himself on a path that leads to a shocking
scandal, a scandal that will test Augusta to the very depths and
threaten everything she worked so hard to attain.
In THE SILVER QUEEN, Jane
Candia Coleman presents the life of Augusta Tabor, the First Lady of
Leadville, Colorado from her early youth in Maine to her arrival in
Pasadena, California in 1895. An epilogue set in Leadville,
Colorado in 1935 rounds out the last details of the cast of
characters. The narrative centers on the Tabor family's life in
Kansas in the build-up to the Civil War, the boom and bust cycles of
Colorado's gold rush and siver boom, and the Tabor family's political
life in Denver as scandal and the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase
Act bring another turn to the Tabor family life. Winner of
several Western awards and a multiple Pulitzer prize nominee, Jane
Candia Coleman narrates one of Colorado's most fascinating high profile
historical families through the eyes of the lesser recorded figure of
Augusta Tabor, the first woman in Colorado's silver-mining camps.
THE SILVER QUEEN
provides an insightful look into the pioneer history in Kansas and
Colorado with precise details of the era, the stages of mining
exploration and development as well the interrelation between Kansas
and Colorado history. Without sidetracking from her main focus,
Jane Candia Coleman ties regional history into the larger picture of
American history of the time.
Based on the memoirs of Augusta Tabor, THE SILVER QUEEN's first person
narrative draws readers into the inner thoughts of a woman whose life
suddenly changes as she moves from the security and community of her
Maine childhood to a harsher Western landscape where independence and
inner fortitude are often the difference between poverty and
survival. Often alone, Augusta's self-reliance and resiliency
inspires within her a sense of creativity to reach out to others' needs
and in doing so, she also finds a way to take care of her family.
THE SILVER QUEEN
chronicles the rags to riches story of the Tabor family through the
eyes of the woman behind the man, not only the woman but the lesser
known woman. Whereas ballads and operas, and websites galore tell
the story of Elizabeth Doe McCourt, also known as "Baby Doe Tabor,"
Jane Candia Coleman tells the story of Colorado's first Silver
Queen. While historians Betty Moynihan in Augusta Tabor: A
Pioneering Woman and later works by Evelyn Furman provide intriguing
biographical insights into Augusta Tabor and the period, Jane Candia
Coleman's first person historical fiction combines historical research
and fictional imagination to give readers a look into the inner life of
this woman. Set in a time where marriage often defined a
woman, THE SILVER QUEEN
gives a glimpse into the fortitude of Augusta Tabor not only during the
harder financial times, but the most devastating emotional challenges
as well. Although modern readers themselves might not make the
same decisions today as those made by Augusta Tabor when faced with
similar circumstances, Jane Candia Coleman presents an empathetic
portrait, highlighting the themes of steadfastness, independence
in the face of adversity, compassion for others, and inner
strength. THE SILVER QUEEN
presents a portrait of a historic pioneer woman who faced difficult
challenges and several reversals of fortune, a woman always bold in her
taking on of the challenges of the movement West in all its forms.
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Merrimon Book Reviews
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