The Silver Baron’s Wife traces the rags-to-riches-to-rags life of Colorado’s Baby Doe Tabor (Lizzie). This fascinating heroine worked in the silver mines and had two scandalous marriages, one to a philandering opium addict and one to a Senator and silver baron worth $24 million in the late 19th century. A divorcée shunned by Denver society, Lizzie raised two daughters in a villa where 100 … peacocks roamed the lawns, entertained Sarah Bernhardt when the actress performed at Tabor’s Opera House, and after her second husband’s death, moved to a one-room shack at the Matchless Mine in Leadville. She lived the last 35 years of her life there, writing down thousands of her dreams and noting visitations of spirits on her calendar. Hers is the tale of a fiercely independent woman who bucked all social expectations by working where 19thcentury women didn’t work, becoming the key figure in one of the West’s most scandalous love triangles, and, after a devastating stock market crash destroyed Tabor’s vast fortune, living in eccentric isolation at the Matchless Mine. An earlier version of this novel won the PEN/New England Discovery Award in Fiction.
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This is the fictionalized story of Baby Doe Tabor, the wife of Horace Tabor who made his riches in the Colorado Matchless Mine and subsequently lost it all. Elizabeth “Baby Doe” hailed from Oshkosh, Wisconsin where she grew up and married her neighbor Harvey Doe. This book follows Baby Doe from her marriage with Harvey to her life with Horace Tabor in Colorado where she was eventually left alone by family and friends. As a devout Catholic and a divorcee, society and family turned their backs on the woman who really only wanted to work in the mines and be with her daughters.
This was a wonderfully written story that seems to stay pretty true to life. The author fictionalized the conversations and thoughts of this strong woman, who was considered a pioneer in the mining business. It is a sad story of how she was treated and I’d like to think she was the kind woman that the author portrayed her as. Her life seemed devoted to her husbands and children. It’s sad how they ultimately treated her. When I first moved to Dallas and later Colorado, I had heard of Elizabeth Tabor through the restaurant chain Baby Doe’s Matchless Mine. It was the place to go for Mother’s Day (oddly enough) for brunch in the 1800s decorated eatery. Past that, I knew little about the lady behind the mine. I am glad to have this chance to learn more about her.
The Silver Baron’s Wife is the fictionalized account of Elizabeth McCourt Doe Tabor who was known as Baby Doe Tabor. This is based on a real-life woman of the same name whose story is well known in Colorado. Known from her birth in 1854 Wisconsin as Lizzie, her story is a remarkable “rags-to-riches-to-rags” tale as described in the book blurb.
Lizzie was a woman shunned by society starting with her divorce from her adulterous, drug addict first husband then to her shocking affair and subsequent marriage to the much older Horace Tabor. Tabor was a wealthy Denver businessman and known as the 1880’s Silver King. By all accounts Lizzie genuinely loved Horace and gave him two daughters. While married to her first husband Harvey Doe, she dressed like a man and worked in the silver mine in which they owned a share. While married to Tabor, she lived a life of extravagance and opulence with her every wish being granted.
Her life with Horace Tabor was soon to crumble and after he lost his fortune in a catastrophic stock market crash, they moved to a much smaller home until his death a few years later. Lizzie returned to Leadville, Colorado with her two young daughters to attempt and revive the Matchless Mine, the only property she had left. The last 35 years of her life were spent in a one room cabin near the mine writing eccentric thoughts and observations. Her tale is a sad one and one that will remain with the reader for a while. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. I gave it 3 ½ stars rounded up to 4.