I loved this! I’ve never read anything by Beth Lewis before, or even come across her, but this is one of my favourite books of the year so far. It’s set in Canada during the Gold Rush and follows the stories of three very different women whose paths cross in Dawson City in the Klondike.
The Rush begins with the arrival of Kate Kelly in Skaguay (now Skagway), Alaska, in 1898. Kate is there to meet up with the guide who is going to take her along the White Pass Trail, the route to Yukon and the Klondike goldfields. She needs to get there as quickly as possible because she has received a desperate plea for help from her sister, Charlotte, in Dawson City: This may be my last letter. He has finally found me and there is nowhere left to run.
In the little Klondike settlement of Boulder Creek, Ellen Rhodes spends her days alone in her cabin, cooking, cleaning and washing, while her husband, Charlie, goes down to the river and digs for gold that never appears. Ellen is sure they’re wasting their time and money, but Charlie refuses to give up on his dream. Finally, we meet Martha, owner of the Dawson Hotel, which doubles as the town’s brothel. Martha is fiercely proud of the business she has built up and is determined to keep it out of the hands of the ruthless Bill Mathers, who seems to be buying up the entire town.
The three women take turns to narrate the story, with the viewpoints rotating throughout the book. They are leading very separate lives at first, but are drawn together when one of Martha’s girls is found murdered. They’re also connected by a mysterious fortune teller who encounters all three of them and seems to have an uncanny ability to truly predict the future. There’s a mystery element to the novel as the women try to find out who the murder victim really is, who has killed her and why, but although this was intriguing and cleverly plotted, what I really loved was the setting and learning what it was like to be a woman in that fascinating but harsh environment where there were any number of natural and man-made disasters – an avalanche, a fire, an outbreak of typhoid – that could change everything in an instant.
I seem to read very few historical novels set in Canada, so I was pleased to have come across one with such a strong sense of place. The vivid descriptions made it easy for me to imagine the cabin by the river where Ellen and Charlie’s marriage falls apart, a victim to the obsessive fever that grabs hold of some human beings when gold is mentioned, and the streets of Dawson City where enterprising men and women like Martha have discovered that the real fortune is to be made not from mining but from the miners. But I particularly enjoyed following Kate’s journey from Alaska into Canada’s Yukon territory, a journey which includes a dramatic, exhilarating adventure crossing the dangerous White Horse Rapids.
I had assumed that the characters were entirely fictional, so I was surprised to read the author’s note at the end of the book and discover that many of them, including Kate, Ellen and Martha, are actually based loosely on real historical figures. This really is a fascinating book, in so many different ways, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Thanks to Viper for providing a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.
Book 5/20 for 20 Books of Summer 2025.
She Reads Novels 
She’s new to me too…. Looks like her back catalogue is a VERY interesting mix of stuff. Definitely adds to ‘The List’! I’ll look out for her when I’m in my Indie bookshop in August… [crosses fingers]
Yes, her previous books all look very different from this one! I hope your indie shop has them.
sounds excellent and completely new to me too!
This does sound excellent, she’s completely new to me too!
Her earlier books don’t sound like the sort of thing I would normally read, which is probably why I had never heard of her, but I’m definitely interested in trying them now!
This does sound like a fascinating book. I love that time period and setting. I’ll have to add this one to my list. 😀
I’ve read very little about the Gold Rush, particularly in Canada, so this was a different setting for me. I loved it!
I love the sound of this one!
It’s great!
This sounds great! I love that you reviewed it. I love reading about the California Gold Rush but haven’t read anything about Canada. I honestly hadn’t even known about any of that. I will definitely be checking it out. Have a great week! 🙂
Yes, it’s a great book. I knew nothing about the Gold Rush in Canada either, so it was something new and different for me.
I’m putting this one on my list.
I really enjoyed it!
This sounds really good.
It’s fascinating – I loved the setting!
I haven’t seen a bad thing about this book yet and am very curious about it. It’s not a setting that I’ve read about before so that alone is intriguing but it’s central characters sound fascinating too. Plus the fortuneteller mention has majorly intrigued me. I feel like this is going to be on a couple of people’s favourite lists at the end of the year based on the reviews I’ve seen.
I think it definitely deserves all the good reviews it’s getting. The setting is fascinating and not a popular choice for historical fiction, so it was something completely new and different for me. I loved the fortune teller character too!
Hello Helen, I pleased to hear you enjoyed this so much! 😀 I have seen this about and been really intrigued. You make sound great! I have never read anything in this setting or time period, so I will definitely be adding this to my wish list.
Blessings, Jessica 💌
I seem to have read very few books set in Canada and knew nothing about the Gold Rush there, so I found it fascinating. I hope you have a chance to read it.
How fun to find a new author to explore the backlist of! I am going to go and look for this one!
Thanks for sharing this review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.