Hardland

Author:   Ashley E Sweeney
Publisher:   She Writes Press
ISBN:  

9781647422332


Pages:   376
Publication Date:   13 September 2022
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Not yet available   Availability explained
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.

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Hardland


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Overview

"""One of the top standalone Westerns in 2022."" --True West magazine Arizona Territory, 1899. Ruby Fortune faces an untenable choice: murder her abusive husband or continue to live with bruises that never heal. One bullet is all it takes. Once known as ""Girl Wonder"" on the Wild West circuit, Ruby is now a single mother of four boys in her hometown of Jericho, an end-of-the-world mining town north of Tucson. Here, Ruby opens a roadside inn to make ends meet. Drifters, grifters, con men, and prostitutes plow through the hotel's doors, and their escapades pepper the local newspaper like buckshot. An affair with an African American miner puts Ruby's life and livelihood at risk, but she can't let him go. Not until a trio of disparate characters--her dead husband's sister, a vindictive shopkeeper, and the local mine owner she once swindled--threaten to ruin her does Ruby face the consequences of her choices; but as usual, she does what she needs to in order to provide for herself and her sons. Set against the breathtaking beauty of Arizona's Sonoran Desert and bursting with Wild West imagery, history, suspense, and adventure, Hardland serves up a tough, fast-talking, shoot-from-the-hip heroine who goes to every length to survive and carve out a life for herself and her sons in one of the harshest places in the American West."

Full Product Details

Author:   Ashley E Sweeney
Publisher:   She Writes Press
Imprint:   She Writes Press
Dimensions:   Width: 14.00cm , Height: 3.00cm , Length: 21.30cm
Weight:   0.481kg
ISBN:  

9781647422332


ISBN 10:   1647422337
Pages:   376
Publication Date:   13 September 2022
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available   Availability explained
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.

Table of Contents

Reviews

Past Praise for the Author For Answer Creek 2021 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards: Historical Fiction, Other 2021 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY Awards): Gold Winner in West Mountain - Best Regional Fiction 2021 Next Generation Indies Book: Winner for Best Second Novel 2020 Arizona Authors Association Literary Award: Winner, Fiction 2021 Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award: Finalist, Best Novel 2020 WILLA Literary Award: Finalist, Historical Fiction Ada is every pioneer woman who accomplished more than she ever thought possible. --Booklist Ada is an impressive heroine who thinks for herself and exhibits moral courage in dire straits . . . [the novel] succeeds at capturing the endurance of the human spirit. --Publishers Weekly The author is a master of vivid descriptions, dragging readers along every wretched mile of the trail, sharing every dashed hope and every dramatic confrontation, with Ada as their guide. Ada is a marvelous creation, twice orphaned and both hopeful and fearful about a new life in California, the promised land . . . A vivid westward migration tale with an arresting mixture of history and fiction. --Kirkus Reviews . . . this book captivated me. With its rich sensory details and the varied humanity of its characters, this book is a must-read for fans of historical fiction, and for anyone looking for insight into a period that carved and honed people down to their core. --Seattle Book Review . . . a gripping story of loss, survival, and female strength. Sweeney does such a masterful job of evoking the journey, from the shifting challenges of the landscape the emigrants move through to the emotional complications of being dependent for survival on people who were strangers months or even just weeks before. The epic sweep, the vast scale, of the trek is vividly felt, but so are the smallest of details. --Society Nineteen Journal, 5/5 stars . . . .a fascinating historical novel, aimed at anyone interested in the struggles of pioneers, especially the Donner-Reed Party. I will certainly look for more novels by this author. --Reader's Favorite Sweeney immerses the reader in the time and place, giving a brilliant picture of daily trail life, particularly from a woman's perspective....Stronger still is Ada's character development. Always scrappy and resourceful, Ada develops a grit and determination on the trail that serves her well....Sweeney deftly gives readers a feel for the horrible choices some members of the Donner Party had to make and is careful to preserve the humanity that is too often removed from histories.... --Historical Novels Review So well researched, one can almost feel the cold of winter and the stifling pain inflicted upon the heart and soul of these courageous pioneers. --K.S. Jones, award-winning author of Shadow of the Hawk With faultlessly authentic period detail and relentless, riveting twists of fate, Answer Creek puts the reader right on the Oregon-California Trail in every sensory and emotional aspect imaginable. This compassionate but utterly realistic telling of the story gently crushes the sensationalized versions and releases something that feels much closer to truth. Ada is hope personified--it takes wing, soars, crashes--and survives. --Ellen Notbohm, award-winning author of The River by Starlight If there can be beauty in horror, Sweeney has managed it in the writing of this book. Doom hovers on every page--in the sunsets of the western sky, in emaciated cattle, in boots worn down to shreds--yet the human spirit radiantly perseveres in the form of young Ada Weeks, who is determined to find love despite an avalanche of losses and sorrows. Her harrowing physical and psychological journey grips the reader in a tightly woven web of suspense. Impeccably researched, Answer Creek is a triumphant re-telling of a mythic American tragedy. --Laurel Davis Huber, author of The Velveteen Daughter, winner of the Langum Prize for American Historical Fiction BR> For Eliza Waite: 2017 Nancy Pearl Book Award 2017 The WILLA Literary Award Finalist in Historical Fiction 2017 International Book Awards Finalist in Fiction: Historical 2016 Best Book Award Finalist in Fiction: Historical 2015-2016 Sarton Women's Book Award Shortlist in Historical Fiction 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 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, USAToday best-selling author of When We Were Strangers This book hooked me from the first page. Just beautiful. --For the Love of Books 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 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 blog Eliza Waite is carefully crafted, beautifully edited, and masterfully formatted. And all of the old-school baking recipes are an unexpected plus. I highly recommend this story, especially for women. It truly helps give a context for the suffering and struggles of women throughout our American history. Five stars. --Reader's Favorite Sweeney has written a brilliant piece of historical fiction whose lead female character has it all. She is a woman who refused to bow to the cruelties of a misogynistic society, only less damnable than her own family. This is a woman who reached down inside and found herself. She is a character who deserves, no, is due the right of having a book named after her. And so it is. --The Anchorage Press Past Praise for the Author For Answer Creek 2021 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards: Historical Fiction, Other 2021 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY Awards): Gold Winner in West Mountain - Best Regional Fiction 2021 Next Generation Indies Book: Winner for Best Second Novel 2020 Arizona Authors Association Literary Award: Winner, Fiction 2021 Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award: Finalist, Best Novel 2020 WILLA Literary Award: Finalist, Historical Fiction Ada is every pioneer woman who accomplished more than she ever thought possible. --Booklist Ada is an impressive heroine who thinks for herself and exhibits moral courage in dire straits . . . [the novel] succeeds at capturing the endurance of the human spirit. --Publishers Weekly The author is a master of vivid descriptions, dragging readers along every wretched mile of the trail, sharing every dashed hope and every dramatic confrontation, with Ada as their guide. Ada is a marvelous creation, twice orphaned and both hopeful and fearful about a new life in California, the promised land . . . A vivid westward migration tale with an arresting mixture of history and fiction. --Kirkus Reviews . . . this book captivated me. With its rich sensory details and the varied humanity of its characters, this book is a must-read for fans of historical fiction, and for anyone looking for insight into a period that carved and honed people down to their core. --Seattle Book Review . . . a gripping story of loss, survival, and female strength. Sweeney does such a masterful job of evoking the journey, from the shifting challenges of the landscape the emigrants move through to the emotional complications of being dependent for survival on people who were strangers months or even just weeks before. The epic sweep, the vast scale, of the trek is vividly felt, but so are the smallest of details. --Society Nineteen Journal, 5/5 stars . . . .a fascinating historical novel, aimed at anyone interested in the struggles of pioneers, especially the Donner-Reed Party. I will certainly look for more novels by this author. --Reader's Favorite Sweeney immerses the reader in the time and place, giving a brilliant picture of daily trail life, particularly from a woman's perspective....Stronger still is Ada's character development. Always scrappy and resourceful, Ada develops a grit and determination on the trail that serves her well....Sweeney deftly gives readers a feel for the horrible choices some members of the Donner Party had to make and is careful to preserve the humanity that is too often removed from histories.... --Historical Novels Review So well researched, one can almost feel the cold of winter and the stifling pain inflicted upon the heart and soul of these courageous pioneers. --K.S. Jones, award-winning author of Shadow of the Hawk With faultlessly authentic period detail and relentless, riveting twists of fate, Answer Creek puts the reader right on the Oregon-California Trail in every sensory and emotional aspect imaginable. This compassionate but utterly realistic telling of the story gently crushes the sensationalized versions and releases something that feels much closer to truth. Ada is hope personified--it takes wing, soars, crashes--and survives. --Ellen Notbohm, award-winning author of The River by Starlight If there can be beauty in horror, Sweeney has managed it in the writing of this book. Doom hovers on every page--in the sunsets of the western sky, in emaciated cattle, in boots worn down to shreds--yet the human spirit radiantly perseveres in the form of young Ada Weeks, who is determined to find love despite an avalanche of losses and sorrows. Her harrowing physical and psychological journey grips the reader in a tightly woven web of suspense. Impeccably researched, Answer Creek is a triumphant re-telling of a mythic American tragedy. --Laurel Davis Huber, author of The Velveteen Daughter, winner of the Langum Prize for American Historical FictionFor Eliza Waite: For Eliza Waite 2017 Nancy Pearl Book Award 2017 The WILLA Literary Award Finalist in Historical Fiction 2017 International Book Awards Finalist in Fiction: Historical 2016 Best Book Award Finalist in Fiction: Historical 2015-2016 Sarton Women's Book Award Shortlist in Historical Fiction 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 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, USAToday best-selling author of When We Were Strangers This book hooked me from the first page. Just beautiful. --For the Love of Books 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 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 blog Eliza Waite is carefully crafted, beautifully edited, and masterfully formatted. And all of the old-school baking recipes are an unexpected plus. I highly recommend this story, especially for women. It truly helps give a context for the suffering and struggles of women throughout our American history. Five stars. --Reader's Favorite Sweeney has written a brilliant piece of historical fiction whose lead female character has it all. She is a woman who refused to bow to the cruelties of a misogynistic society, only less damnable than her own family. This is a woman who reached down inside and found herself. She is a character who deserves, no, is due the right of having a book named after her. And so it is. --The Anchorage Press


Smart, savage, and bold as brass, Ruby Fortune's strength and sense of survival explode from the pages of this portrait painted by master storyteller, Ashley E. Sweeney, using the harsh, historical Arizona Territory as her palette. Through captivating and unsettling events, Ruby's independent spirit, ingenuity, and sheer guts held me hostage from the first vivid page to the last. --Laurie Buchanan, award-winning author of the Sean McPherson novels Ruby is a difficult woman, in the best way possible. She shoots, she kills, she enjoys lustful sex. She survives. She protects her children and the people she loves. Literature is filled with men like this. But there are very few Rubies. Reading her story, I reveled in her life-force. She is a newly described American archetype. --Shelley Blanton-Stroud, award-winning author of Copy Boy Ruby Fortune doesn't harden her heart or break apart at the cruel hands of domestic abuse, but gains compassion and strength in her ultimate journey to wholeness by fighting for dignity and self-worth, loving fiercely those close and deserving, and by welcoming all to her table and more. A bright and resilient gem of a woman in an unforgiving land. --Debra Thomas, award-winning author of Luz Gritty, honest, and real. Sure to be on everyone's TBR list. --Nancy E. Turner, award-winning author of Light Changes Everything Ruby Fortune defines grit and grace--she is the heroine we need in these times. Riveting and beautifully told. --Susan Tweit, award-winning author of Bless the Birds Past Praise for the Author For Answer Creek 2021 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards: Historical Fiction, Other 2021 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY Awards): Gold Winner in West Mountain - Best Regional Fiction 2021 Next Generation Indies Book: Winner for Best Second Novel 2020 Arizona Authors Association Literary Award: Winner, Fiction 2021 Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award: Finalist, Best Novel 2020 WILLA Literary Award: Finalist, Historical Fiction Ada is every pioneer woman who accomplished more than she ever thought possible. --Booklist Ada is an impressive heroine who thinks for herself and exhibits moral courage in dire straits . . . [the novel] succeeds at capturing the endurance of the human spirit. --Publishers Weekly The author is a master of vivid descriptions, dragging readers along every wretched mile of the trail, sharing every dashed hope and every dramatic confrontation, with Ada as their guide. Ada is a marvelous creation, twice orphaned and both hopeful and fearful about a new life in California, the promised land . . . A vivid westward migration tale with an arresting mixture of history and fiction. --Kirkus Reviews . . . this book captivated me. With its rich sensory details and the varied humanity of its characters, this book is a must-read for fans of historical fiction, and for anyone looking for insight into a period that carved and honed people down to their core. --Seattle Book Review . . . a gripping story of loss, survival, and female strength. Sweeney does such a masterful job of evoking the journey, from the shifting challenges of the landscape the emigrants move through to the emotional complications of being dependent for survival on people who were strangers months or even just weeks before. The epic sweep, the vast scale, of the trek is vividly felt, but so are the smallest of details. --Society Nineteen Journal, 5/5 stars . . . .a fascinating historical novel, aimed at anyone interested in the struggles of pioneers, especially the Donner-Reed Party. I will certainly look for more novels by this author. --Reader's Favorite Sweeney immerses the reader in the time and place, giving a brilliant picture of daily trail life, particularly from a woman's perspective....Stronger still is Ada's character development. Always scrappy and resourceful, Ada develops a grit and determination on the trail that serves her well....Sweeney deftly gives readers a feel for the horrible choices some members of the Donner Party had to make and is careful to preserve the humanity that is too often removed from histories.... --Historical Novels Review So well researched, one can almost feel the cold of winter and the stifling pain inflicted upon the heart and soul of these courageous pioneers. --K.S. Jones, award-winning author of Shadow of the Hawk With faultlessly authentic period detail and relentless, riveting twists of fate, Answer Creek puts the reader right on the Oregon-California Trail in every sensory and emotional aspect imaginable. This compassionate but utterly realistic telling of the story gently crushes the sensationalized versions and releases something that feels much closer to truth. Ada is hope personified--it takes wing, soars, crashes--and survives. --Ellen Notbohm, award-winning author of The River by Starlight If there can be beauty in horror, Sweeney has managed it in the writing of this book. Doom hovers on every page--in the sunsets of the western sky, in emaciated cattle, in boots worn down to shreds--yet the human spirit radiantly perseveres in the form of young Ada Weeks, who is determined to find love despite an avalanche of losses and sorrows. Her harrowing physical and psychological journey grips the reader in a tightly woven web of suspense. Impeccably researched, Answer Creek is a triumphant re-telling of a mythic American tragedy. --Laurel Davis Huber, author of The Velveteen Daughter, winner of the Langum Prize for American Historical FictionFor Eliza Waite: For Eliza Waite 2017 Nancy Pearl Book Award 2017 The WILLA Literary Award Finalist in Historical Fiction 2017 International Book Awards Finalist in Fiction: Historical 2016 Best Book Award Finalist in Fiction: Historical 2015-2016 Sarton Women's Book Award Shortlist in Historical Fiction 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 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, USAToday best-selling author of When We Were Strangers This book hooked me from the first page. Just beautiful. --For the Love of Books 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 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 blog Eliza Waite is carefully crafted, beautifully edited, and masterfully formatted. And all of the old-school baking recipes are an unexpected plus. I highly recommend this story, especially for women. It truly helps give a context for the suffering and struggles of women throughout our American history. Five stars. --Reader's Favorite Sweeney has written a brilliant piece of historical fiction whose lead female character has it all. She is a woman who refused to bow to the cruelties of a misogynistic society, only less damnable than her own family. This is a woman who reached down inside and found herself. She is a character who deserves, no, is due the right of having a book named after her. And so it is. --The Anchorage Press


A vividly rendered story of survival in the Arizona Territory. --Kirkus Reviews Open the pages of Ashley Sweeney's wonderful new book, Hardland, and you'll find yourself in an 1899 Arizona Territory town so authentic you can smell the dust and feel the hot wind that brings it. As Sweeney's charismatic and resilient character, Ruby Fortune, says, you 'have to grow scales to survive here.' Ruby is as vivid and unforgettable as characters come, and you'll find yourself turning page after page as her life unfolds--because in Sweeney's hands, Ruby's life becomes as real as your own. --Susan Lang, WILLA Literary Award-winning author of Small Rocks Rising A powerful and gripping tale of survival and triumph over abuse, misogyny, and economic challenges. It rings as true in the 21st century as it did in the time frame in which it is set. A must-read! --Jim Jones, award-winning author of The Lights of Cimarron Ashley E. Sweeney minces few words as she unravels Ruby Fortune's fate on the early Arizona frontier. Wild west performer, drug addict, ardent lover, mother, and murderer, Ruby's story is gritty and unabashedly raw. She quickly learns she is sometimes no match for the trials that come her way, but she survives as only she knows how--with her strength, her wit, and her gun. Spellbinding from beginning to end. --Jan Cleere, Arizona-New Mexico Book Award winner of Military Wives of Arizona A well-written, bold, steely novel. Everyone needs to know a woman like Ruby Fortune. --Books and Pens on Green Gables In Hardland, Ashley Sweeney makes Arizona a character. --Booklist Ruby's is a thrilling ride across the hard land of Arizona in the early 1900s as one woman takes on and tames the West. Sweeney's third novel is a courageous stunner. --Gretchen Cherington, author of Poetic License . . . a Western that goes beyond most in depicting a strong female character whose changing perspectives and experiences make her a formidable survivor in an alien land. Libraries looking for Westerns that are high-octane in their action and female presence will welcome the opportunity to add both facets to their collections via the highly recommended, thoroughly absorbing Hardland. --D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review Smart, savage, and bold as brass, Ruby Fortune's strength and sense of survival explode from the pages of this portrait painted by master storyteller, Ashley E. Sweeney, using the harsh, historical Arizona Territory as her palette. Through captivating and unsettling events, Ruby's independent spirit, ingenuity, and sheer guts held me hostage from the first vivid page to the last. --Laurie Buchanan, award-winning author of the Sean McPherson novels Ruby is a difficult woman, in the best way possible. She shoots, she kills, she enjoys lustful sex. She survives. She protects her children and the people she loves. Literature is filled with men like this. But there are very few Rubies. Reading her story, I reveled in her life-force. She is a newly described American archetype. --Shelley Blanton-Stroud, award-winning author of Copy Boy Ruby Fortune doesn't harden her heart or break apart at the cruel hands of domestic abuse, but gains compassion and strength in her ultimate journey to wholeness by fighting for dignity and self-worth, loving fiercely those close and deserving, and by welcoming all to her table and more. A bright and resilient gem of a woman in an unforgiving land. --Debra Thomas, award-winning author of Luz Gritty, honest, and real. Sure to be on everyone's TBR list. --Nancy E. Turner, award-winning author of Light Changes Everything Ruby Fortune defines grit and grace--she is the heroine we need in these times. Riveting and beautifully told. --Susan Tweit, award-winning author of Bless the Birds It's 1899 in Arizona Territory and life for Ruby Fortune, Girl Wonder on the Wild West circuit is like riding an eight-minute bull in a one-woman rodeo. One minute she's hanging on and riding high; the next, life punches her in the gut and throws her to the ground, leaving her bloodied with more questions than answers. Knowing the gifted writing Ashley E. Sweeney has offered in her past works, this gripping and fast-paced novel is one of her best. --Deborah Swenson Book Reviews Ruby's story is a testimonial to human endurance, resilience, and love. She embodies the tough spirit of millions of women who have found their voices giving them the courage to speak up about abusive relationships and making them stronger . . . a perfect choice for a book club. --Sock Fairies From the first sentence, Ruby Fortune leaps from the page, fully realized and vital, raw and unpolished, lusty and strong. --The Literate Quilter Highly recommended and thoroughly absorbing. --Midwest Book Review Past Praise for the Author For Answer Creek 2021 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards: Historical Fiction, Other 2021 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY Awards): Gold Winner in West Mountain - Best Regional Fiction 2021 Next Generation Indies Book: Winner for Best Second Novel 2020 Arizona Authors Association Literary Award: Winner, Fiction 2021 Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award: Finalist, Best Novel 2020 WILLA Literary Award: Finalist, Historical Fiction Ada is every pioneer woman who accomplished more than she ever thought possible. --Booklist Ada is an impressive heroine who thinks for herself and exhibits moral courage in dire straits . . . [the novel] succeeds at capturing the endurance of the human spirit. --Publishers Weekly The author is a master of vivid descriptions, dragging readers along every wretched mile of the trail, sharing every dashed hope and every dramatic confrontation, with Ada as their guide. Ada is a marvelous creation, twice orphaned and both hopeful and fearful about a new life in California, the promised land . . . A vivid westward migration tale with an arresting mixture of history and fiction. --Kirkus Reviews . . . this book captivated me. With its rich sensory details and the varied humanity of its characters, this book is a must-read for fans of historical fiction, and for anyone looking for insight into a period that carved and honed people down to their core. --Seattle Book Review . . . a gripping story of loss, survival, and female strength. Sweeney does such a masterful job of evoking the journey, from the shifting challenges of the landscape the emigrants move through to the emotional complications of being dependent for survival on people who were strangers months or even just weeks before. The epic sweep, the vast scale, of the trek is vividly felt, but so are the smallest of details. --Society Nineteen Journal, 5/5 stars . . . .a fascinating historical novel, aimed at anyone interested in the struggles of pioneers, especially the Donner-Reed Party. I will certainly look for more novels by this author. --Reader's Favorite Sweeney immerses the reader in the time and place, giving a brilliant picture of daily trail life, particularly from a woman's perspective....Stronger still is Ada's character development. Always scrappy and resourceful, Ada develops a grit and determination on the trail that serves her well....Sweeney deftly gives readers a feel for the horrible choices some members of the Donner Party had to make and is careful to preserve the humanity that is too often removed from histories.... --Historical Novels Review So well researched, one can almost feel the cold of winter and the stifling pain inflicted upon the heart and soul of these courageous pioneers. --K.S. Jones, award-winning author of Shadow of the Hawk With faultlessly authentic period detail and relentless, riveting twists of fate, Answer Creek puts the reader right on the Oregon-California Trail in every sensory and emotional aspect imaginable. This compassionate but utterly realistic telling of the story gently crushes the sensationalized versions and releases something that feels much closer to truth. Ada is hope personified--it takes wing, soars, crashes--and survives. --Ellen Notbohm, award-winning author of The River by Starlight If there can be beauty in horror, Sweeney has managed it in the writing of this book. Doom hovers on every page--in the sunsets of the western sky, in emaciated cattle, in boots worn down to shreds--yet the human spirit radiantly perseveres in the form of young Ada Weeks, who is determined to find love despite an avalanche of losses and sorrows. Her harrowing physical and psychological journey grips the reader in a tightly woven web of suspense. Impeccably researched, Answer Creek is a triumphant re-telling of a mythic American tragedy. --Laurel Davis Huber, author of The Velveteen Daughter, winner of the Langum Prize for American Historical FictionFor Eliza Waite: For Eliza Waite 2017 Nancy Pearl Book Award 2017 The WILLA Literary Award Finalist in Historical Fiction 2017 International Book Awards Finalist in Fiction: Historical 2016 Best Book Award Finalist in Fiction: Historical 2015-2016 Sarton Women's Book Award Shortlist in Historical Fiction 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 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, USAToday best-selling author of When We Were Strangers This book hooked me from the first page. Just beautiful. --For the Love of Books 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 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 blog Eliza Waite is carefully crafted, beautifully edited, and masterfully formatted. And all of the old-school baking recipes are an unexpected plus. I highly recommend this story, especially for women. It truly helps give a context for the suffering and struggles of women throughout our American history. Five stars. --Reader's Favorite Sweeney has written a brilliant piece of historical fiction whose lead female character has it all. She is a woman who refused to bow to the cruelties of a misogynistic society, only less damnable than her own family. This is a woman who reached down inside and found herself. She is a character who deserves, no, is due the right of having a book named after her. And so it is. --The Anchorage Press


Ashley E. Sweeney minces few words as she unravels Ruby Fortune's fate on the early Arizona frontier. Wild west performer, drug addict, ardent lover, mother, and murderer, Ruby's story is gritty and unabashedly raw. She quickly learns she is sometimes no match for the trials that come her way, but she survives as only she knows how--with her strength, her wit, and her gun. Spellbinding from beginning to end. --Jan Cleere, Arizona-New Mexico Book Award winner of Military Wives of Arizona Ruby's is a thrilling ride across the hard land of Arizona in the early 1900s as one woman takes on and tames the West. Sweeney's third novel is a courageous stunner. --Gretchen Cherington, author of Poetic License Smart, savage, and bold as brass, Ruby Fortune's strength and sense of survival explode from the pages of this portrait painted by master storyteller, Ashley E. Sweeney, using the harsh, historical Arizona Territory as her palette. Through captivating and unsettling events, Ruby's independent spirit, ingenuity, and sheer guts held me hostage from the first vivid page to the last. --Laurie Buchanan, award-winning author of the Sean McPherson novels Ruby is a difficult woman, in the best way possible. She shoots, she kills, she enjoys lustful sex. She survives. She protects her children and the people she loves. Literature is filled with men like this. But there are very few Rubies. Reading her story, I reveled in her life-force. She is a newly described American archetype. --Shelley Blanton-Stroud, award-winning author of Copy Boy Ruby Fortune doesn't harden her heart or break apart at the cruel hands of domestic abuse, but gains compassion and strength in her ultimate journey to wholeness by fighting for dignity and self-worth, loving fiercely those close and deserving, and by welcoming all to her table and more. A bright and resilient gem of a woman in an unforgiving land. --Debra Thomas, award-winning author of Luz Gritty, honest, and real. Sure to be on everyone's TBR list. --Nancy E. Turner, award-winning author of Light Changes Everything Ruby Fortune defines grit and grace--she is the heroine we need in these times. Riveting and beautifully told. --Susan Tweit, award-winning author of Bless the Birds Past Praise for the Author For Answer Creek 2021 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards: Historical Fiction, Other 2021 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY Awards): Gold Winner in West Mountain - Best Regional Fiction 2021 Next Generation Indies Book: Winner for Best Second Novel 2020 Arizona Authors Association Literary Award: Winner, Fiction 2021 Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award: Finalist, Best Novel 2020 WILLA Literary Award: Finalist, Historical Fiction Ada is every pioneer woman who accomplished more than she ever thought possible. --Booklist Ada is an impressive heroine who thinks for herself and exhibits moral courage in dire straits . . . [the novel] succeeds at capturing the endurance of the human spirit. --Publishers Weekly The author is a master of vivid descriptions, dragging readers along every wretched mile of the trail, sharing every dashed hope and every dramatic confrontation, with Ada as their guide. Ada is a marvelous creation, twice orphaned and both hopeful and fearful about a new life in California, the promised land . . . A vivid westward migration tale with an arresting mixture of history and fiction. --Kirkus Reviews . . . this book captivated me. With its rich sensory details and the varied humanity of its characters, this book is a must-read for fans of historical fiction, and for anyone looking for insight into a period that carved and honed people down to their core. --Seattle Book Review . . . a gripping story of loss, survival, and female strength. Sweeney does such a masterful job of evoking the journey, from the shifting challenges of the landscape the emigrants move through to the emotional complications of being dependent for survival on people who were strangers months or even just weeks before. The epic sweep, the vast scale, of the trek is vividly felt, but so are the smallest of details. --Society Nineteen Journal, 5/5 stars . . . .a fascinating historical novel, aimed at anyone interested in the struggles of pioneers, especially the Donner-Reed Party. I will certainly look for more novels by this author. --Reader's Favorite Sweeney immerses the reader in the time and place, giving a brilliant picture of daily trail life, particularly from a woman's perspective....Stronger still is Ada's character development. Always scrappy and resourceful, Ada develops a grit and determination on the trail that serves her well....Sweeney deftly gives readers a feel for the horrible choices some members of the Donner Party had to make and is careful to preserve the humanity that is too often removed from histories.... --Historical Novels Review So well researched, one can almost feel the cold of winter and the stifling pain inflicted upon the heart and soul of these courageous pioneers. --K.S. Jones, award-winning author of Shadow of the Hawk With faultlessly authentic period detail and relentless, riveting twists of fate, Answer Creek puts the reader right on the Oregon-California Trail in every sensory and emotional aspect imaginable. This compassionate but utterly realistic telling of the story gently crushes the sensationalized versions and releases something that feels much closer to truth. Ada is hope personified--it takes wing, soars, crashes--and survives. --Ellen Notbohm, award-winning author of The River by Starlight If there can be beauty in horror, Sweeney has managed it in the writing of this book. Doom hovers on every page--in the sunsets of the western sky, in emaciated cattle, in boots worn down to shreds--yet the human spirit radiantly perseveres in the form of young Ada Weeks, who is determined to find love despite an avalanche of losses and sorrows. Her harrowing physical and psychological journey grips the reader in a tightly woven web of suspense. Impeccably researched, Answer Creek is a triumphant re-telling of a mythic American tragedy. --Laurel Davis Huber, author of The Velveteen Daughter, winner of the Langum Prize for American Historical FictionFor Eliza Waite: For Eliza Waite 2017 Nancy Pearl Book Award 2017 The WILLA Literary Award Finalist in Historical Fiction 2017 International Book Awards Finalist in Fiction: Historical 2016 Best Book Award Finalist in Fiction: Historical 2015-2016 Sarton Women's Book Award Shortlist in Historical Fiction 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 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, USAToday best-selling author of When We Were Strangers This book hooked me from the first page. Just beautiful. --For the Love of Books 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 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 blog Eliza Waite is carefully crafted, beautifully edited, and masterfully formatted. And all of the old-school baking recipes are an unexpected plus. I highly recommend this story, especially for women. It truly helps give a context for the suffering and struggles of women throughout our American history. Five stars. --Reader's Favorite Sweeney has written a brilliant piece of historical fiction whose lead female character has it all. She is a woman who refused to bow to the cruelties of a misogynistic society, only less damnable than her own family. This is a woman who reached down inside and found herself. She is a character who deserves, no, is due the right of having a book named after her. And so it is. --The Anchorage Press


Author Information

Award-winning author Ashley E. Sweeney was born in New York and graduated from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. Her multiple awards include the New Mexico-Arizona Book Award, Nancy Pearl Book Award, Independent Publisher Book Award, Next Generation Indie Book Award, and Arizona Authors Association Literary Award; she has also been a finalist for the Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award, Sarton Women's Book Award, and WILLA Literary Award for Historical Fiction (twice), among others. Ashley lives and writes in the Pacific Northwest and Tucson. Hardland is her third novel.

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