From the bestselling author of White Rose, Black Forest comes a page-turning epic of adventure, suspense, and romance set against the rich and ruthless backdrop of the Klondike gold rush.
Seattle, 1897. Anna Denton is not like the other prospectors traveling to the Yukon on the promise of riches. It’s duty—not profit—that calls her into the wild unknown. With her family nearing financial ruin, … nearing financial ruin, Anna has agreed to marry Henry Bradwell, the wealthy King of the Klondike.
She meets Will and Silas, childhood friends, on the steamer north. After the ship docks in a lawless Alaska town, Anna’s chaperones run afoul of local criminals, leaving her stranded. Will and Silas agree to escort her the hundreds of treacherous miles to Dawson City—the gateway to the goldfields—and her betrothed, a man she doesn’t know.
Upon their arrival, Bradwell warmly welcomes them all. But as a brutal winter sets in, relations sour, and Anna is caught between the promise her family made to the power-hungry Bradwell and her feelings for Will. Anna and her companions soon find themselves in a deadly game where few can be trusted and where the greatest danger in the frozen wilderness of the Klondike is man himself.
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Cancel your plans! Toward the Midnight Sun kept me reading half the night. Beginning with an epic journey through a pristine yet savage wilderness, and set against the backdrop of the mighty gold rush, Anna, Will, and Silas’s adventure comes to a dramatic crescendo that almost stopped my heart. Fine storytelling, well researched, a triumph of the human spirit. I am certain that readers will love Dempsey’s new book.
The backdrop for this book is the Klondike Gold Rush, and an arranged marriage. On the boat ride over to Skagway our female lead, Anna, meets two of the male leads, Will and Silas. From there we follow their journey, through the ups and downs to their final destination of Dawson City. Then the next part of the story takes place. Here we meet Bradwell, Anna’s soon to be husband, and then the meat of the book begins.
I found this to be a well written, and rather immersive historical read. The main characters are believable, and have been given informative back stories. I found myself rooting for Will, Silas and Anna.
I think this probably would be considered a historical drama, but it is exciting, adventurous, and in parts suspenseful. I was very invested in the story being told, and found it to be a page turner. There is a romantic interest, and a nasty twist.
I recommend this book for those who like an immersive but short story. A thoroughly enjoyable read, with just the right amount of everything. This is a complete story.
Wow what a book. This book was not at all what I had expected. This was a book of adventure and romance. It was a clean romance, I usually like a little steam but it was still excellent. It was well written and narration was also excellent.
An ok book. Predictable with pedestrian writing. It seemed well-researched, and it does paint a really vivid picture of the gold rush and journey from Skagway to Dawson.
I liked the premise of the book, being about the Alaskan Gold Rush of 1897, about the arduous, spirit-breaking journey to get to the gold fields. And though the depravity of human nature no doubt existed there, I disliked reading about it. Dempsey was able to evoke a visceral response in me to the beating of Anna, the wicked behavior of Bradwell and the conning and killing of Silas, it was disturbing nonetheless. From a historical standpoint, it is a worthwhile read.
Very engaging adventure and love story set in the Alaskan Gold Rush.
Gold Fever on the Klondike
I really enjoyed this book. The history of the miners and the journey they made to reach the Klondike gold fields was very interesting, especially the trek over the Chilkoot trail and the stair steps, then the dangerous trek down the half frozen river in a homemade boat. The description of the emerging mining towns with their loudness, whiskey, gambling and girls of the saloons. The mud sticking to the boots, the extreme cold and the disillusion of many.
The characters were believable as human’s with all their failings. They were more true to life than many books I have read. The author wrote them as just that…people with the normal human feelings, failings that we see in everyday life with the extra ruggedness needed for such a frontier setting. Those that made it had to be the most rugged and desperate just to get to Dawson.
At every step of the way people dropped out and turned back. Those that kept going and finally made it to Dawson were still unsure of their future. By the time our characters in the story made it most of the good mines had already been claimed. How they were able to establish themselves was more to the character’s gambling ability than to their luck at finding a good claim.
I enjoyed the characters of Will, Silas, Anna, Betsy and Mr. Bradwell, as well as all the other minor characters in between. The book describes the long winter after the miners arrival in Dawson. No contact at all with the outside world, no mail, no supplies. The passions felt, the desperation of some, the romance between Will and Anna even though she was betrothed to Mr. Bradwell. All of it was part of the way of life in that era in the Klondike. Food and supplies were scarce and women were more so as only a few were able to make it to Dawson and most that did were either married or ladies of ill repute.
I applaud the author for telling the story how it must have been in those times with all the rawness of the environment. Times were hard, life was harder, it was how it was.
I recommend this to anyone interested in reading about this time period in history.
Thanks to Eoin Dempsey, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an advance copy of the book.
A gorgeously written novel that has all the elements of terrific historical fiction: adventure, romance, danger, and an unforgettable heroine, as well as a unique and beautifully depicted setting — in this case, the breathtaking, untamed terrain of the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush. I can’t recommend it enough!
Toward the Midnight Sun: Eoin Dempsey
The Alaska gold rush is on. The climate is unyielding; gold is shielded by brutal cold. Most of the prospectors lose too much, while a few gain from others’ losses.
Creature comforts can be found in only a few places. One of them is Dawson, where a ruthless land-grabber rules as King of the Klondike. Seeking more in his life than money and his unsavory enterprises, he offers to pay a bride price for Anna the young daughter of a long-time friend. She is courageous, knowing her family will be ruined by her father’s debts, she agrees to the marriage. She embarks on a miserable ocean voyage, accompanied by two chaperones hired by her “fiancé”. They are unsavory and unreliable, and sell the tickets her fiancé has purchased to provide safer river travel for one leg of the trip. When one of the escorts kills the other and disappears, Anna enlists the aid of two young men she has met on the ocean travel. They join thousands of gold seekers on a nearly-impossible trek through mountain passes. They must pack in all their supplies, including lumber and mining equipment. This necessitates multiple trips in unforgiving terrain. They are among a minority who complete this portion of the trek. They use the lumber they have carried to build a boat to travel the river to Dawson. Of course the boat overturns, but the three survive to have continuing harrowing adventures.
The fiancé awaits, twirling his mustache. He installs her as Queen of the Klondike. Over time he reveals his violent and sadistic nature before the wedding takes place. He does everything but tie Anna to a railroad track to encourage her compliance.
An interesting thriller, revealing hard times, and hard cases, on the frontier.
Interesting account of the Klondike gold rush, believable characters.
Fairly typical tale, but easy to read. So hard to believe that mere humans survived the perilous weather conditions and other hardships. Some language not appropo to the times: “Because it doesn’t fit the narrative…” and …it had been a one-off…”
To settle her father’s debt, a young woman agrees to leave her Chicago family and marry a wealthy man in Alaska. She and two male escorts take on the Chilkhoot Trail, on foot, as winter approaches. Shortly after arriving, tension builds between her future husband and the two male escorts, with a sequence of events that shift her future. The wilds of Alaska in the midst of the Klondike gold rush fever make this historical adventure well worth reading!