Gold Diggers
Striking It Rich in the Klondike
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No event in our history is more legendary than the Yukon Gold Rush of 1896. With the discovery of rich gold deposits in Bonanza Creek, 100,000 prospectors headed for the Yukon within a few months. People from all walks of life -- Canadians, Americans, British, even Australians -- landed in the newly created Dawson City in search of instant wealth. Hungry miners hoped for the one big strike; others, for prosperity in this instant boom town; some, for the adventure of a lifetime.
This is the story of the Gold Rush through the intimate lives of six extraordinary people: the saintly priest Father Judge; the feisty entrepreneur Belinda Mulrooney; the struggling writer Jack London; the imperious British journalist Flora Shaw; the legendary Sam Steele of the Mounties; and the prospector William Haskell. Brilliantly interweaving their stories, Gray creates a fascinating panorama of a frontier town where desperados, saloon keepers, gamblers, dance hall girls, churchmen and law-makers were thrown together in a volatile time.
Beautifully illustrated with period photographs and documents of the Gold Rush, Gold Diggers is a colourful and entertaining journey into a world gone mad for wealth.
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Author Extras
Reading Guides:
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Critical Praise for
Gold Diggers
“...thoroughly engaging...” - Quill & Quire
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“Gray is one of Canada’s best-loved writers...each of the men and women she introduces is as fascinating as the last...” - Winnipeg Free Press
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“Nobody writes our nation’s history with quite the grace and authority as Ottawa’s Charlotte Gray.” - Toronto Star
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“Stampeding through our misconceptions of history, Gray reveals a country built on risk, passion and unparalleled adventure. And did I mention romance? Treachery? Gray is more than a writer. She is a treasure hunter. And in these pages, she has struck gold.”
- Evan Solomon
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“Gold in the story and gold on the page. With meticulous research and a keen eye for the crucial detail, Charlotte Gray disentangles the story of the great Klondike Gold Rush from its myths and cliches to tell the story of the extraordinary adventurers who struggled to survive and prosper in a harsh land."
- Margaret MacMillan
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“What a fascinating, rich account...readers can only be grateful to such a skilled writer and historian as Charlotte Gray to let us feel, smell and wonder at such an astonishing place as Dawson City...” - Jeff Simpson, The Globe and Mail
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Gray has hit pay dirt with this hardscrabble history, a vibrant, detailed recreation of the frenzied boomtown of Dawson City.
-- Publishers Weekly
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“A lively, delightful reenactment of a signal era of ‘Klondike mythology.’”
— Kirkus (Starred Review)
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Reluctant Genius
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Flint & Feather
A graceful biography that was a #1 national bestseller, Flint & Feather confirms Charlotte Gray’s position as a master biographer, a writer with a rare gift for transforming a historical character into a living, breathing woman who immediately captures our imagination. In Flint &...
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