Goldrush history is always something that I find really interesting. So many interesting characters who leave everything behind in the hope that they can change their lives and the lives of their families, the mix of nationalities, the colourful characters and so much more. Of course, more often than not, that dream find does not happen but the lure of gold is strong.
Marigold Harrington, a devout young Christian woman, arrives in the remote Western Australian gold town of Kalgoorlie in the late 1890s with only one plan. She and her mother have undertaken the long and arduous trip from Melbourne to be reunited father. He used to be a preacher but he headed west in the hope of making his fortune and save his family from their current financial problems. When Marigold and her mother arrive, there is no sign of her father.
It is hot, dry and dusty and Kalgoorlie is a typical gold town, full of miners, with limited numbers of women. And a lot of the women that there are prostitutes. American Pansy Arlington is the owner of the Palace of Pleasure. Pansy is rough around the edges, is prone to drinking too much, and is hiding a story of heartbreak
In theory, Marigold and Pansy should not even cross paths, but they do when Marigold joins the Christian Women's Temperance Union and she and the other members knock on the door to try and minister to the girls who work for Pansy. This unlikely pair form a friendship based on a love of good conversation, books and more.
This is a dual timeline novel with the second part of the story being set in the late 1920s when two gold detectives are murdered. As the investigation continues, we find out how the women's history impacts lives 30 years later.
Anthea Hodgson has found a great story to tell, packed with interesting history. Pansy Arlington was real life character from history, and the history of prostitution in Kalgoorlie is very interesting. The y came up with an interesting way of dealing with the problem of having ladies displaying their wares in public. This was through a policy called containment which meant all the brothels are located on just one street, known as Hay Street. There were also rules around how they could operate. It is something unique to Kalgoorlie. The murder case was also based on a true story which was also very interesting.
Many years ago we used to catch the train from Adelaide to Perth, which is a journey of around 36 hours. The last major stop before you get to Perth is in Kalgoorlie, where there was a fairly long stop. On one of those trips, I did a bus tour which took you down Hay Street, which is the street where all of the brothels were located. I mean, we looked at the mine heads and other things too. Apparently these days there is not much to see thanks to the advent of fly in fly out work and the internet but it was certainly an interesting tour to take.
Anthea Hodgson has given us another really interesting read with some little known aspects of history portrayed on the page. As a reader we were taken back to the dusty, rough streets of Kalgoorlie, warts and all. It wasn't an easy life and things happened to the characters that broke my heart.
I always intended to read this book, but it moved to the top of my list as it was one of the books that I needed to read for the Rachael John's Book Club Reader's Retreat that I attended last weekend. I might not read many of the other book club books, but I do make an effort to read the retreat ones!
This book counts for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, which I host here, with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews and was also one of the books that I nominated for 20 Books of Winter hosted at AnnaBookBel.
Rating 4/5
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