In 1893, Mae Duffy and her family arrive in El Dorado seeking the California dream, but the easy gold is gone and depression grips the nation. Breaking free, she stumbles into Sacramento's underworld and corrupted state government, where girls are political favors. She meets tycoons and senators of the Gilded Age while her brother and other homeless strikers fight the Southern Pacific Railroad. Humbled, Mae returns to rural Cosumne and learns about life from two old women, Chinese and Miwok. She also finds love with Indian Mary's son Billy, the last man of the People in their ancient home place along the Cosumnes River -- until her past comes to haunt them. This action-packed romp through Victorian times continues. A sweeping epic of the last of California's Old West. at times terrifying and yet deeply satisfying. Rooted firmly in history, with ironies extending to today's world. Like the first two award-winning novels of the trilogy (Eye of the Bear and River of Red Gold), this novel

Rest for the Wicked: A History Novel

Literature & Fiction

West, Naida

Genre Fiction

Bridge House Books

The California Gold Rush as you never imagined (1844-1853) based on a true story. All characters are real, named unchanged. This epic novel brings to life Donner Party survivors, Sutter and his Sacramento fort, the first actual gold strikes, paradise lost and the unsettling of the West. For countless generations Grizzly Hair's people have lived peacefully on the land by the Cosumnes River. Former British sailor Perry McCoon stakes his claim and brings Elitha, his 14-year-old Donner bride. Vaquero Pedro Valdez loves Grizzly Hair's daughter Maria (Indian Mary), and desires the land for his own rancho. But initially McCoon possesses her and the land. Then Mexico loses the war, Condor's robe is stolen and the stampede for gold tramples all before it. Elitha and Indian Mary become soul-mates as miners turn the earth upside down and the river runs red with blood. Fighting bigotry with gun and lasso, Pedro rides with the bandit Joaquin Murieta. Told through Pedro, Indian Mary and Elitha Donner, the story and its surprise end will haunt readers. 
Passionate love and enduring friendships in a time of violence and vengeance. Familial love thwarted but never diminished. Pedro, Maria and Elitha -- people of three cultures guided and misguided by those who walked before. 
Whispers to the modern soul of rootlessness, sacrifices to gold, the curse of the Condor. Yet through it all sing the eternal voices of the land and river, promising hope and tranquility to those who will listen. 624 pages.

River of Red Gold

Contemporary

First in the California Gold Trilogy consisting of 1. Eye of the Bear, 2. River of Red Gold, and 3. Rest for the Wicked. Naida West, Ph.D., lives with her husband on their little ranch in California's "Gold Country." The ranch lies alongside the Cosumnes River, a primary setting in her novels. In Eye of the Bear, Grizzly Hair, a Miwok Indian, leaves his peaceful village in 1824 to investigate the mysteries of the Spanish missions. He's captured and taken to Mission San Jose, where he escapes and participates in a huge native rebellion against government forces. This moving story of adventure and love brings to life forgotten native peoples, Spanish colonials, Russians in Fort Ross, and American trapper Jededdiah Smith. Some reviews: ". . . an engrossing experience that will haunt the reader with its challenging historical realism . . . a gifted writer with prose that informs as well as entertains." - Robert Santos, California State University, Stanislaus. "This is one of the most important books I have ever read." - Hans Feickert, archeologist

Eye of the Bear

Based on real people and historical events--the aftermath of the Donner Party--Pedro, Indian Mary, and Elitha Donner, people of three cultures entwined in a drama of passion and power.For centuries Indian Mary's people have lived peacefully on the land by the Cosumnes River. Vaquero-soldier Pedro Valdez lover her and desires the land for his own rancho, but Perry McCoon stakes his claim and brings his 14-year-old Donner bride. Then the stampede for gold tramples all before it.

Based on a true story--one of Idaho's strangest murders (1917). Frieda lives by the laws of the wilderness in primitive isolation with her husband--until she finds something more important than raw survival. Suspense intensifies to the shocking conclusion, then resolves in deliverance. Set on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. "This is one of those rare gems... a small but powerful work. It captures the roughness of life and the people, and the awesome land in which they struggled... The writing is finely balanced, the tale both universal and yet specific to its time and place... up there with Conrad Richter's Sea of Grass." -Persia Woolley, author of The Guinevere Trilogy

Murder on the Middle Fork

Smith, Don Ian

Daughter of the West: Her Story: Part I

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Bridgehouse Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by West, Naida. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by West, Naida

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by West, Naida. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Rest for the Wicked: A History Novel

River of Red Gold

Eye of the Bear

River of Red Gold

Murder on the Middle Fork

Daughter of the West: Her Story: Part I