ELIZA WAITE
By Ashley E. Sweeney
Publication date: May 16, 2016
She Writes Press
ISBN (13) 978-1-63152-058-7; $16.95 U.S.; 5 ½ x 8 ½; 317 pages; Paperback; Fiction/First Novel
PRAISE:
"Sweeney’s debut novel is a beautifully written work of historical fiction tracing one woman’s life in the wilds of nineteenth-century America. Readers will be immersed in Eliza’s world, which Sweeney has so authentically and skillfully rendered."—Booklist
“Meticulously researched, ELIZA WAITE transports us to the Klondike Gold Rush, where a resourceful young widow searches a more elusive prize: happiness in a re-forged life."
—Pamela Schoenewaldt, USA Today Bestselling author of When We Were Strangers.
“Eliza Waite is a lively and compelling narrative of one woman’s quest to navigate the social turmoil of the late 19th century Pacific Northwest. Traversing the San Juan Islands, Seattle, and the Klondike, Ashley Sweeney offers an insightful look into the challenges and opportunities of the Gold Rush for charting a new course in life.”—Polly Myers, University of Washington History Department
“This book hooked me from the first page. Just beautiful.”—For the Love of Books
“Cast off by her family and living in the shadow of unthinkable tragedy, Eliza Waite finds the courage to leave her remote island home to join the sea of miners, fortune hunters, con men and prostitutes in the Klondike during the spring of 1898. Ashley Sweeney’s exquisite descriptions, electrifying plot twists, and hardy yet vulnerable characters will captivate historical fiction fans and leave them yearning for more. Eliza Waite is a stunning debut!”—Kristen Harnisch, award-winning author of The Vintner’s Daughter and The California Wife
“This is a fascinating story of a young woman who survives tragedy and reinvents herself at the turn of the 20th century.”—A Chick Who Reads
“I can confidently say that Eliza Waite will easily be in my top 10 books of the year for 2016. The writing is so stark and beautiful, the story so compelling. I couldn’t put this book down, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it when I finished reading.”—A Southern Girl Reads
DESCRIPTION:
After the tragic death of her husband and son on a remote island in Washington’s San Juan Islands, Eliza Waite joins the throng of miners, fortune hunters, business owners, con men, and prostitutes traveling north to the Klondike in the spring of 1898. When Eliza arrives in Skagway, Alaska, she has less than fifty dollars to her name and not a friend in the world—but with some savvy, and with the help of some unsavory characters, Eliza opens a successful bakery on Skagway’s main street and befriends a madam at a neighboring bordello. Occupying this space—a place somewhere between traditional and nontraditional feminine roles—Eliza awakens emotionally and sexually. But when an unprincipled man from her past turns up in Skagway, Eliza is fearful that she will be unable to conceal her identity and move forward with her new life.
Part diary, part recipe file, and part Gold Rush history, ELIZA WAITE transports readers to the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of a raucous and fleeting era of American history.
BIO:
A native New Yorker, Ashley E. Sweeney lives and writes in La Conner, Washington. She is a graduate of Wheaton College in Norton, MA and is an award-winning journalist in Washington State. ELIZA WAITE is her first novel.
Visit her online at http://ashleyesweeney.com/, https://www.facebook.com/ashleysweeney57, https://twitter.com/ashleysweeney57.
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