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Crown Of Dust (2011)

by Mary Volmer(Favorite Author)

3.59 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1569479860 (ISBN13: 9781569479865)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Soho Press

review 1: This book is incredible, mesmerizing, magnificent. In the late 19th century, a young man arrives in Emaline's town of Motherlode, a small mining start-up near the grass valley. Alex, the young man, is running from a past he doesn't want to remember, and hiding a secret that could ruin his life, and take his freedom. For Alex is not a young man, but a young woman. The story is about Emaline and Alex, and all the other inhabitants of Motherlode, with their many desires, ambitions, dreams, cares, and problems. The setting is a poor town with plenty of water in the creek and enough gold to keep the miners panning, but not much else. A town with an unfinished church, and a wild but mostly decent population. The story is told through the viewpoints of many of the inhabitants. It... more is told in the present tense, which is something I just encountered (for the first time?) recently. It takes some getting used to, but it adds a completely different flavor to the story and the plot. It makes the dust and the rain of the town and the cares and hopes of the protagonists more immediate, and separates memories (told in the past tense) from the current storyline. The writing is more calm than fast-paced, but the book still achieves an un-put-downable quality (there is still action aplenty). The characters are top-notch, wonderful, realistic creations that drive the plot and truly make the story fascinating. Near the beginning of the second half, I started to get a little impatient, and maybe didn't do justice to some of the non-Alex-related happenings. At first I was a little concerned that Alex might have forgotten his origins as a young woman, but she still narrates the story from a young woman's point of view, even though she admits it is easy to think of herself as a young man. Final word: The ending is So. Good. Sogood.
review 2: I thought that this was one of the best books that I've read in a while. I enjoyed the setting and the characters very much. Alex, I thought, was a very deep character with a past. I think not finding out about that past until the middle was what kept me hooked. Then there was that hidden love with Alex and David that kept me interested for the rest of the novel. It is written very well and the descriptions are fantastic. This book definitely changed how I felt about wild-west books. I hilly recommend this book. less

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