“Hannah’s story is not only a wonderful historical coming-of-age tale, but also a novel about overcoming hardships, finding friendship, and female empowerment.” ~ Deanna Frances Windy City ReviewsA provocative coming-of-age saga of female empowerment during the historic 1890’s Cripple … Cripple Creek, Colorado gold rush.Desperate following her mother’s sudden death, 13-year-old Hannah Owens is hired as domestic help for a wealthy doctor’s family in Colorado Springs. However, when the doctor declares bankruptcy and abandons his family to finance his mistress’ brothel, Hannah is thrown into a vortex of gold mining corruption, rampant prostitution, and the harsh economic, political and cultural upheavals of the era.Two of Cripple Creek’s most colorful historic characters, Winfield Scott Stratton, eccentric owner of the richest gold mine in Cripple Creek, and Pearl DeVere, the beautiful madam of The Old Homestead, come to life as this well-researched, character-driven debut novel unfolds!
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3.5
Book source ~ Tour
Set in the 1890s in Colorado, the tale follows 13-yr-old Hannah Owens and the horribly brutal life she leads because she had the misfortune of being born female into a family without money or privilege.
There’s Historical Romance that lets a reader peek in on the realities facing those who lived in the past while never really hammering them home and then there’s Historical Fiction that tosses you in the deep end and doesn’t care if you sink or swim. There’s no right or wrong to either, but be warned that this particular story is brutal in its portrayal of what life was like for women in this country when they had nothing and no one to protect them.
Some women were lucky. Even with everything Hannah goes through in this book, she’s one of the lucky ones. And I’m going to use that term loosely because her life is not easy. However compared to many women of the time she’s definitely been lucky in her acquaintances and circumstances. She makes the best of what comes her way and while the decisions she faces are unfathomable to most of us here in 2021, it’s chilling to realize that with sex trafficking running rampant we are still dealing with the same situations Hannah did in the 1890s.
Told from Hannah’s point of view she has a wonderful voice and it’s fascinating to watch her evolve from an ignorant girl to a world-weary woman. Her situation is enraging as well as heart breaking. My only complaint is how the story seems at times to drag and others to skip ahead. Plus, the ending is a bit rushed. Overall though, it’s a read that will definitely stick with you for a long time.
Madams, murder and marriage are but a few of the elements of Mim Eichmann’s debut novel, “A Sparrow Alone.” Readers learn of the trials and triumphs of fictional character Hannah Owens in 1890’s Colorado over several years, beginning when she is 13. Hannah’s story is set against the harsh background of gold and silver mining, with prostitution, despair, poverty and lawlessness all part of life in the real town of Cripple Creek. How Hannah not only survives, but matures and retains her humanity, makes for a very intense read. Eichmann’s research into the period is both impressive and extensive, especially regarding two real-life characters, the wealthy and eccentric Winfield Scott Stratton, and Pearl De Vere, the famous Madam of the most infamous brothel in town. Readers who appreciate characters with the stamina and will to keep going, to not give up despite the numerous challenges they face, will be inspired as well as entertained by this book.
This piece was far more than I expected. I won this from Goodreads and am more than pleased once again. I found the story to be so intoxicating and compelling due to it’s purely outrageous plot and horrible occurrences but all the while maintaining your belief in it’s probability. It was full of horrible things involving the lives of predominantly women, during the late 1800′s and because of it it achieved a truly incredible story to follow. Some characters were loved, some hated but either way this author had an ability to create both in a way that could invoke passion. She took you on a sad, heartfelt journey touching many lives along the way but invoked a reality that many of us try not to imagine when these time periods become romanticized in our minds. Her realism being her more apparent ability, some others felt a little lacking. Hannah, the main character has a colder type of detachment from the story at times. She doesn’t seem to waste much time on the emotional tolls taken upon herself in this story but that also can partially be attributed to her being a very strong character. I think logistically it could have also been due to length. If it had actually be a little longer maybe we could have had more from the character in the sense of her deeper feelings and lasting effects. We instead only really had occasional glimpses of this vulnerability. There’s a thin line to tread especially when coupled with a period piece involving deeply hurtful traumas that I found had descriptions that came off rather curt at times. This isn’t a critique on the writing overall though. I believe this author did a wonderful job with enticing her readers throughout still. Scene descriptions were excellent, the builds of anticipation were incredible and again, her character creations were wonderfully executed still. She really did an amazing job sinking you into this time period as if you were reading a girl’s diary and watching life through her eyes which I found to pay off very well still for other reasons.