YotH REVIEW: Gold Mountain

Sharon Cullars
Gold Mountain
Loose ID
ASIN: B003IHW2EY
Historical romance
February 23, 2010

Description via the author’s site:

In 1865, the hope for gold has spurred many to seek their fortunes in California, the place the Chinese call Gum San or “Gold Mountain.” Amidst this backdrop, Quiang, a new Chinese immigrant, works the dangerous rails hoping to save enough money to send home to his parents. In town, Leah and Clara, two enterprising women from New York, have plans of their own to grow a restaurant and laundry business. However, both plans go awry when Quiang and Leah meet one fateful day. What starts as a budding attraction soon grows into tumultuous desire despite the cultural and language barriers between them.

Initially resistant, Leah succumbs to passion following a tragic loss that leaves her vulnerable and alone. With hopes for a future that now includes Leah, Quiang embarks on a perilous path as he leaves the railroad behind for a more profitable position as a courier for The Tong, henchmen for the dangerous Triad. Quiang soon finds that navigating the secretive life of a courier brings more danger than he has ever faced on the railroad, dangers that not only threaten to tear him and Leah apart, but may cost them their lives as well.

This is my June review for Year of the Historical.

Gold Mountain is a short story and therefore I’m not going to give a whole lot of detail. But first I should thank Katiebabs for making me aware of this story. It is so beautiful and rich, especially when one considers the short format. From a historical context, I felt the author did an amazing job of making me feel fully invested – I could clearly see the rough town she and her friend had chosen to carve out a life in, the desperate tinge of dreams pitted against a seedy hierarchy of rules that you follow or else. You either keep your nose clean, or you plunge fully into the more degenerate side of life. In this time and place, there is no in between.

Leah and her friend Clara are wholly on the work hard, keep your nose clean side. It’s like walking a tight rope. Being women of color, owning a business and all, they have to work extra hard to maintain order and safety in their lives. They’re exactly like everyone else in town, hoping to make their fortunes, whether through work, or through marriage as Clara wishes. The need to survive is an everyday carefully thought out plan.

But then one day, Leah’s world is shaken when one lone Chinese worker wanders into her and Clara’s restaurant and laundry business. Knowing she should turn him away, she goes against better judgment and in doing so starts her life on a point where there’s no going back. Because life is often pitiless and cruel, especially to people like her and the strange, yet enigmatic Chinese man who she eventually comes to know more intimately, Leah’s own life will turn into something of a nightmare before she can break free and find what she truly wants.

Quiang, the mysterious Chinese man who approaches Clara, is set in his practical ways. He knows he should leave Clara alone, that being around ehr won’t make her life any easier, but there’s something about her that he can’t resist. Thought he two can’t actually speak for their language barrier (Quiang can’t speak English, nor Leah Chinese, of course), they have a visceral connection that cannot be ignored for long. Quiang works hard so that he can one day make something of himself, and he decides that working for white men won’t get him anywhere. If anything, it’ll get him killed as he slaves away at building the railroad. He takes on a dangerous job with a local branch of the Chinese Triad, hoping this will be his way out, even as he knows the danger that lurks.

Quiang and and Leah don’t really begin their true romance till after tragedy has found Leah, setting her life back in ways she always kind of feared, but never really expected to happen. Because of this, she has a new look on life, and suddenly she’s not afraid to be with Quiang. But in order to really be together, they’ll have to whether more danger, prejudice and the threat of every last thing they care about being taken away.

I really enjoyed this story. At times it didn’t feel like I was reading a short story. There were so many good details in how Leah and Quiang choose to live alone that I got a keen sense of life at that time. Before I knew it, though, the story was over and I did wish that it had been longer. That’s not to say the story wasn’t well-rounded. It was. There was a good romance, not scorching hot, but definitely sweet and tinged with a desperation, as if Quiang and Leah thought it couldn’t last forever despite the depth of their feelings for one another. And that romance was so achingly tender. They can’t really speak, but their actions, the looks in their eyes say it all. Together, they learn how to communicate.

There is a solid beginning, middle and a very satisfying ending, making Gold Mountain one of the best short stories I’ve read in quite a while. I even was impressed at character development given the short format and felt the author did a superb job all around. I loved the romance, the time period and the story itself. What more could you ask for, unless it was to see all of this in a longer book. If you’re in the mood for a different take on this time period from the perspective of the oppressed groups of the time, I highly recommend Gold Mountain. It is a beautiful, sweet love story rich in historical context.

Rating: Five Scoops