On 2 BuzzFeed Hot Lists!“New Book Releases We Loved And Why You Should Read Them”“New Historical Fiction You Won’t Be Able To Put Down This Fall”The story of one woman’s quest to carve out a life for herself in the liberal and bewildering society that emerged during the California gold rush frenzy.Elisabeth Parker comes to California from Massachusetts in 1849 with her new husband, Nate, to … Massachusetts in 1849 with her new husband, Nate, to reunite with her father, who’s struck gold on the American River. But she soon realizes her husband is not the man she thought—and neither is her father, who abandons them shortly after they arrive. As Nate struggles with his sexuality, Elisabeth is forced to confront her preconceived notions of family, love, and opportunity. She finds comfort in corresponding with her childhood friend back home, writer Louisa May Alcott, and spending time in the company of a mysterious California. Armed with Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance, she sets out to determine her role in building the West, even as she comes to terms with the sacrifices she must make to achieve independence and happiness. A gripping and illuminating window into life in the Old West, Prospects of a Woman is the story of one woman’s passionate quest to carve out a place for herself in the liberal and bewildering society that emerged during the California gold rush frenzy.
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It’s 1850 and Elizabeth and her new husband Nate have travelled from Massachusetts to California to find her father who struck gold on the American River. What she finds is that her father has totally changed and has no desire to see her. He leaves his claim to Elizabeth and Nate and disappears into the wilderness. What she finds is a river with little to no gold and soon she and Nate are working long hours to find gold but starving due to lack of money. Nate starts disappearing into the nearest town and when she goes to find him she realizes that she can make her own money by sewing and mending for the prospectors. She also finds out that women in California have rights to be independent, to divorce and to own property unlike women in the rest of the country. As she begins to feel like Nate doesn’t want to spend time with her and realizes that he is struggling with his sexuality, she realizes that it’s time to move into town and leave her husband and marriage behind. It’s a struggle for her as she realizes that there are sacrifices to make on the road to independence but she’s a strong woman and able to survive the pitfalls This novel is a look at a woman trying to survive on her own during the California gold rush.
My Comments: When you read a book about this time period, it’s apparent how far women have come since then and the bravery and perseverance of the women who helped to start the changes. I didn’t always like Elizabeth as a person but realized that she had to be unlikable at times to be successful in a man’s world. This is one of the best books that I’ve read about the gold rush period because it’s told through the eyes of a woman.
Prospects of a Woman by Wendy Voorsanger is an intriguing story of Elisabeth’s first three years in the wilds of California circa 1850. She has arrived there with her new husband, Nate to find her father, who has run away from his family somewhat earlier. What she expects to find, she has no idea, but locating him begins her disillusion with life. Through thick and thin she persists, wearing the one dress she own, mining gold next to her husband until things start happening in her life. She never looks back, except at the family she has left behind. She continues her correspondence with her friend, Louisa May Alcott, with nothing more than grand fiction, unwilling to share the downward turn her life had taken. It is a harrowing picture of a time in history when anything was possible.
Elisabeth is a stalwart character who allows nothing to keep her down. Through her travels she meets other women who support her and love her. She does some things that are outside her character, but she has to survive, and survive she does. She goes through multiple careers in the short time we know her, always learning, always striving. There is not really a plot; it is more of a slice of live novel with many mini-plots and subplots along the way. There are men, all with flaws of their own. Some she loves, most she does not, but they help her along her way. This is an astounding time in California history, unfair to early Californios but supremely fair to women, if they are smart enough to take advantage. It was an exciting story. I recommend it.
I was invited to read a free ARC of Prospects of a Woman by Netgalley. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #prospectsofawoman
Set in the 1850’s during the California Gold Rush, Prospects of a Woman is the story of Elizabeth and her struggle to survive in a man’s world. After realizing that her marriage to Nate is going nowhere, Elizabeth strives to make it on her own. I loved this book! I was quickly pulled into the story by the descriptive writing. Wendy Voorsanger is a DEBUT author to watch! I can’t wait to read her next book!
The book provides a look at the difficulties of life in the California Gold Rush from a woman’s perspective. The strength of the women as well as the importance of female friendships in addition to women holding up other women. It’s 1850 and Elizabeth and her new husband Nate have travelled from Massachusetts to California to find her father who struck gold on the American River. What she finds is that her father has totally changed and has no desire to see her. He leaves his claim to Elizabeth and Nate and disappears into the wilderness. What she finds is a river with little to no gold and soon she and Nate are working long hours to find gold but starving due to lack of money. Nate starts disappearing into the nearest town and when she goes to find him she realizes that she can make her own money by sewing and mending for the prospectors. She also finds out that women in California have rights to be independent, to divorce and to own property unlike women in the rest of the country. As she begins to feel like Nate doesn’t want to spend time with her and realizes that he is struggling with his sexuality, she realizes that it’s time to move into town and leave her husband and marriage behind. It’s a struggle for her as she realizes that there are sacrifices to make on the road to independence but she’s a strong woman and able to survive the pitfalls This is a great book highlighting a woman finding a way to thrive in a man’s world, and a great testament to how far we’ve come. If you love historical fiction, I think you’ll enjoy this one. I enjoyed the development of Elisabeth’s friendships and her own character. She learns what she likes, doesn’t like and wants out of life. She has gumption and moxie, two qualities I admire. She pined for a lost love and then got busy moving on with life.
Prospects of a Woman looks at women’s rights and status during the Gold Rush. California was at the forefront of women’s rights, allowing women to own property, divorce, etc. unlike most of the United States. In 1850, Elizabeth and Nate travel from an apple orchard in Massachusetts to California’s American River to find her father. When found, his character has changed completely and he wants nothing to do with his daughter.
Marital problems with Nate and a new love for a Californiano lead Elizabeth to divorce her husband and find her own way.
The story is told in a somewhat distant third person point-of-view with occasional bits of close third person, especially when Elizabeth is working through her problems and her sexuality.
The book has some sexual scenes, but very discrete. I enjoyed this look into a woman’s life during the Gold Rush.
Elisabeth Parker went to find her father with her husband, Nate. It turned out he was gay and life wasn’t what she had hoped it would be. They were both in love with the same man. It was a slow and dry read. The genre interests me, but it was more a story of early women’s liberation.
I couidn’t put this book down! Voorsanger’s bright, indomitable, smart, funny, horny, creative heroine Elizabeth captures our hearts from page one while vivid descriptions of sun-baked hills, rushing rivers, big sky, and scrappy towns refresh the Golden State’s grip on our collective imagination. Though the setting is the California Gold Rush, as we follow Elizabeth through her disorienting cross country move, a confusing marriage, lusty longings, and at last a confident independence, we come to realize that she is us, and she is California! Brave, wild, vulnerable, adaptable, and evolving. Both she and her new home state find themselves blessedly far from the center of the universe and instead at its exploratory edge which bestows upon them, and us, a very welcome breath of fresh freedom. Voorsanger’s damsel is rescued by no one but herself making “Prospects of a Woman” an adventure to be shared for years to come with sisters, mothers, daughters, and wives, and those inspired by them.
Wendy Voorsanger has written a passionate and gritty tale about the strong women who helped make the West what it is. They came for a variety of reasons, but found a place and a time that valued their resourcefulness and resilience. Prospects of a Woman is a gripping story of one woman’s journey – physically, spiritually, and emotionally – from a stultifying life back East, to a wild world of hardships and possibilities that changed her, just as she was instrumental in the shaping of the West.
Growing up in India, my only history lessons on the gold rush came from Western blockbusters like ‘How the West was Won’ and ‘MacKenna’s Gold’. Wendy Voorsanger’s ‘Prospects of a Woman’, told from the point of view of a fiercely independent woman who carves a life out for herself in the California gold rush, is fascinating and educational in equal measures. Apart from its historical detail, what kept me glued to the book was its feisty heroine Elizabeth Parker, who must reinvent herself again and again as she navigates a life of extreme poverty, a doomed marriage, and forbidden love. We follow her as she grows from a vulnerable twenty-year-old from Concord, MA to a tough California woman who discovers her sexuality and independence along the way. Elizabeth is a deeply developed character who leaps out of the pages with her grit, ambition, passion, and intelligence. Her emotions are almost tangible, and her decisions relatable. Voorsanger’s writing style is exquisite and has the ability to pull the reader fully into the story. I especially liked the heroine seeking truths in her treasured copy of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance, an essay that expounds on individualism and the importance of avoiding conformity. Elizabeth’s letters to her friend, the feminist writer Louisa May Alcott, are also brilliant. I sure hope ‘Prospects of a Woman’ will be made into a movie soon!
If you want to understand the California Gold Rush from a woman’s perspective, this book is for you. Voorsanger includes specific details about panning for gold and mining for gold. Although I have visited the area, and read about the period, there was so much more to learn from this novel. Even more intriguing, we see it all from the perspective of the main character, Elizabeth Parker, who left the East to look for her father and to change her life. She endures hardship and heartache, but always picks herself up and sets her eyes on her goals.
Elizabeth is a complex character, and Voorsanger shows both her inspiring moments, and those of which even she is not proud. Nevertheless, we root for her, and for the women she befriends, also making their way in this heady period of California history. Voorsanger also includes other aspects of the time period, such as the controversy over land ownership, and the California constitution, which gave women rights not found in other states. All in all, this is a highly satisfying read, on both the emotional and intellectual levels.
Eureka, I have found it! The best Gold Rush era novel ever written. Told from a female point of view, with luscious poetic language Elisabeth Parker’s heart-rending challenges tumble out as rapidly as the awe-inspiring California American River where much of this book takes place. Her courageous quest for solace, fulfillment and independence despite forbidden love at a unique time in history is unputdownable.
So you think you know about women in the west? Think again, and read this authentic, thought-provoking, entertaining, and inspiring novel from debut novelist-to-watch, Wendy Voorsanger.