≡ Download Free Crown of Dust edition by Mary Volmer Literature Fiction eBooks

Crown of Dust edition by Mary Volmer Literature Fiction eBooks

Download As PDF : Crown of Dust edition by Mary Volmer Literature Fiction eBooks

Crown of Dust edition by Mary Volmer Literature Fiction eBooks

Crown of Dust, the debut novel by Marl Volmer, is one of those books that could have been very, very bad. Granted, it's not the kind of story about gold mining in the Wild West most readers would expect, but it certainly makes up for that with lots of heart.

The story begins with Alex, a mysterious young man, showing up in a mining camp that is slowly transitioning into a town called Motherlode. Alex rents a room at the Victoria Inn, a saloon and hotel overseen by Emmaline, who finds Alex a bit ... odd. Alex, like many of those who came West, has a secret in his past. For one thing, he's not a he. He's a she who, dressed as a boy, is on the run. At this point many of the readers of traditional Westerns are probably groaning, expecting Crown of Dust to be less of a novel and more of a treatise on gender identity studies in the Old West. But those who stay with the novel are rewarded by a truly touching story.

Alex, trying to blend in before moving on, tries his/her hand at gold mining and by sheer luck funds a big gold nugget that stirs a mini gold rush to Motherlode. With the influx of miners, shopkeepers, "proper" ladies and the like, the settlement begins to become a community. Alex considers staying on, but it's not her past, but someone else's that catches up to her.

While the book introduces a colorful cast of characters, it is Alex and Emmaline to form the heart of the story ... and the heart of the community. Their losses and their secrets are heartbreaking, but don't confuse the book with a tear-jerker. Faced with adversity, the characters who populate the pages of this novel move onward without wasting time in self-pity.

This was a wonderful debut novel that would have earned five stars from me if there hadn't been points in the middle where the plot seemed to drag and meander a bit. It is the strong characters that make the story compelling and Volmer seems to keep them under a tight rein.


Tags : Crown of Dust - Kindle edition by Mary Volmer. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Crown of Dust.,ebook,Mary Volmer,Crown of Dust,Soho Press,American First Novelists,American Historical Fiction,California,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction Historical,Fiction Literary,Fiction Westerns,FictionHistorical - General,Frontier and pioneer life,Frontier and pioneer life;California;Fiction.,Gold mines and mining,Gold mines and mining;California;Fiction.,Historical - General,Literary,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),Women pioneers,Women pioneers;Fiction.,Romans Historiques

Crown of Dust edition by Mary Volmer Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews

Story of gold rush days in northern CA where i live so it had extra appeal. Writing is somewhat confusing at times, but overall it was an interesting read. It fleshed out some of the historical tidbits i've read.
I love Westerns and though I suppose this isn't strictly speaking a Western it is set in California during the 19th Century gold rush. Motherlode is a typical town of the times made up of 90% men with several wives, daughters and mothers and, in this case, one bad girl called Emaline who runs the local hotel/bar. The men hang on her words. They count on her for a sense of civilization and for a woman's touch.....literarily. When a young man named Alex happens into town he first hates Emaline but then begins to value her. Alex finds a large piece of gold on his first day working his claim. He's renamed the Golden Boy. His fame spreads bringing many new seekers to town.

Volmer's debut novel is a fun book set during a fascinating time and place. There are intrigues that keep you guessing throughout. It's a serious book dealing with relationships between men and women, slavery/racism, sexual identity, greed, crime but Volmer accomplishes this with lots of humor. It was a unique time in our history and she portrays it well.
The basic premise of "Crown of Dust" is that of a western gold rush story with the added twist that the protagonist is a young woman masquerading as a boy in order to escape problems back home. In addition to the girl in male drag, Volmer has brought other quirky elements to play. Emaline, the saloon owner and major player in the town, hides a secret romantic relationship with her closest employee, a black man. As can be expected other plot lines involve, a) behind the scenes treachery in town and in the mines, b) love affairs both practiced and imagined (in a town of only five females that can be tricky), and c) multiple struggles for mine ownership.

Author Volmer partially excuses away the eccentricity of her characters by suggesting the gold "rush" draws a great variety of edgy people to the scene where fantastic fortunes are theirs for the picking. She says, "Seems like every one of these men, new hat or tattered, claims to be this and also this, and on occasion that. Believe everything or nothing of what they say, it would make no difference. Gold just opened this place up, spanned the world like a guitar string, plucked a little different by each man walking through. When rebellions, famines, floods--the usual fare with added local complaints miners striking against water companies and President this or Governor that promising to do more than General this or Judge that, if you just elect him."

While it may be true that frontier towns by their nature are bound to attract an odd assortment of types, Volmer's Alex is not always credible as a boy -and we sometimes wonder how a "boy" in a mostly male society is never detected. The sheer modesty entailed in living under primitive circumstances would seem to be noticed and thought to be suspicious.

In "Crown of Dust" Mary Volmer successfully brings together the elements of the old west and gold mining. After Alex (nee Alexandra) discovers gold s/he is led to stake a claim which trustworthy, experienced miners work to help the "young man" make his/her mine play out. In that way, we learn much about finding and purifying gold bearing ore, whether through panning in rivers and streams, clawing it from the hills, or high pressure water hosing the sides of mountains (Placer mining). Like the conflict of many would-be get-rich-quick drifters and unprincipled businessmen, all of this swirls and roils about the town suddenly named "Motherlode" for its strike.

Altogether, Author Volmer has developed an interesting tale with many turns and surprising kinds of expression, some of them profound. Emaline, the Saloon owner and "mother hen" to many of the men who've gathered for gold, philosophically explains their quest as rampant ambition and a quest for freedom. "Freedom," she says, "in California is defined by a price, and its price is ambition. It is not enough simply to celebrate freedom, to dig a hole and hide it from harm or build up walls of rules, protecting your idea of what freedom should be while damning other versions. You have to invest in freedom, she thinks, to put it in the bank of blind faith and draw interest on strength and effort. Goals are dangled like bread to the starving, and you could find your self crawling, walking, running forward, grasping for cotton on the wind, not so much to catch it, but to call it your own, to say you tried and will keep on trying."

It is perhaps the sheer provocative nature of the story line that will hold you from cover to cover in "Crown of Dust." The unusualness of the mystery elements, "will she get rich?" "will she get found out? "how will her boyfriend who's attracted to her even though she's Alex, a "him" resolve the issue?"

Mary Volmer's "Crown of Dust" is guaranteed to keep you wondering about these things throughout this bizarre romp through the old west. For its obvious value as discussion topics, this book would make a great book club read.
Crown of Dust, the debut novel by Marl Volmer, is one of those books that could have been very, very bad. Granted, it's not the kind of story about gold mining in the Wild West most readers would expect, but it certainly makes up for that with lots of heart.

The story begins with Alex, a mysterious young man, showing up in a mining camp that is slowly transitioning into a town called Motherlode. Alex rents a room at the Victoria Inn, a saloon and hotel overseen by Emmaline, who finds Alex a bit ... odd. Alex, like many of those who came West, has a secret in his past. For one thing, he's not a he. He's a she who, dressed as a boy, is on the run. At this point many of the readers of traditional Westerns are probably groaning, expecting Crown of Dust to be less of a novel and more of a treatise on gender identity studies in the Old West. But those who stay with the novel are rewarded by a truly touching story.

Alex, trying to blend in before moving on, tries his/her hand at gold mining and by sheer luck funds a big gold nugget that stirs a mini gold rush to Motherlode. With the influx of miners, shopkeepers, "proper" ladies and the like, the settlement begins to become a community. Alex considers staying on, but it's not her past, but someone else's that catches up to her.

While the book introduces a colorful cast of characters, it is Alex and Emmaline to form the heart of the story ... and the heart of the community. Their losses and their secrets are heartbreaking, but don't confuse the book with a tear-jerker. Faced with adversity, the characters who populate the pages of this novel move onward without wasting time in self-pity.

This was a wonderful debut novel that would have earned five stars from me if there hadn't been points in the middle where the plot seemed to drag and meander a bit. It is the strong characters that make the story compelling and Volmer seems to keep them under a tight rein.