The beautiful Baby Doe married for the promise of a gold mine--her mother always intended her to be the family's way out of debt. When her immature husband abandoned Baby Doe she supported herself by working for a tailor. Ever since she arrived in the Western wilds of Colorado, Baby Doe had turned heads and men scrambled for her favors. But the only man to claim her heart was the married Silver King Horace Tabor, who had rose from miner to riches to the U.S. Senate.
Baby Doe broke hearts when she and Tabor divorced their spouses and got married. The 'Tabor Luck' brought them spectacular wealth before the Eastern bankers convinced the Federal government to adopt the gold standard, sending silver prices plunging.
I was propelled to read Gold Digger. Baby Doe and her world are vividly rendered, and the economic and social challenges of the times are addressed through the action.
A terrifying scene of an attack on Chinese immigrants illustrates the anti-Chinese sentiment toward the people who came to do the manual labor. And the shunning of the Tabor wedding in Washington, D.C., even though President Arthur attended, illustrates the social rejection of the divorced.
Baby Doe's experiences ran the gamut from pampered daughter to the hard-working miner's wife who actually donned overalls and worked on site. She suffered a miscarriage and was abandoned by her first husband. She worked to support herself, fending off sexual predators and suitors. Then she coped with social rejection for her divorce and a relationship with the man she loved. Tabor showered her with riches and gave her two children before losing everything, but she stuck with him. No wonder that Rosenberg calls her 'remarkable'.
The sequel to Gold Digger, Silver Dollar (Baby Doe's daughter) is scheduled for release in September 2019--so readers won't have to wait long for the conclusion of Baby Doe's life!
Title: Gold Digger: The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor
by Rebecca Rosenberg
Lion Heart Publishing
Price: $15.95 (print) $9.99 (e-book)
ISBN: 978-0-578-42779-9 (Print)
ISBN: 978-1-7329699-0-2 (Kindle)
Publication: May 29, 2019
Rosenberg writes about women who are survivors. She knows about resilience. She and her husband lost their home and lavender farm in a California wildfire in 2017.
Rosenberg's first novel, The Secret Life of Mrs. Jack London, imagines the relationship between the legendary novelist Jack London and his second wife Charmain, and her rumored affair with Harry Houdini. The story opens nine years into Jack and Charmain's marriage. Charmain had been Jack's typist. He divorced his first wife to marry Charmain.
I became his typist, his editor, his muse.--from The Secret Life of Mrs. Jack London by Rebecca RosenbergRomance is a prominent feature of the novel. Charmain was raised by an advocate of free love and she was comfortable with her sexuality.
In the novel, Jack finds Charmain essential but he also neglects her and carries on affairs. Charmain longs for their earlier passionate relationship. Men pursue her, making Jack jealous. Her suitors included Harry Houdini who loved his perpetual child-wife but found sexual fulfillment outside of marriage. Charmain's diaries refer to her affair with her 'Magic Man'.
Jack struggles with health issues and is burdened to pay for his many projects, both working hard and playing hard. Both Jack and Harry Houdini are charismatic, lionized, risk takers whose physical charms attract Charmain.
He said he'd never met a woman as game as me for adventure.--from The Secret Life of Mrs. Jack London by Rebecca Rosenberg
There is a desperation about Charmain that made me sad. Jack admired what he perceived as a masculine strength and bravery which matched his own. But what a burden it had to be to live up to his ideals!
Charmain not only typed his novels as he dictated them but cleaned them up, edited, and ghost-wrote them. She desperately wanted to succeed on her own as a writer but the publishers dismissed her until Jack arranged to have her books published.
Charmain discovers that men hold the power in the world and in love. Walking away, her life a blank journal, we hope she finds success on her own terms.
The Secret Life of Mrs. Jack London
by Rebecca Rosenberg
$14.95
Lake Union Publishing
ISBN 9781542048736
