Lynn D'urso - Heartbroke Bay

Twenty-three-year-old Victorian Englishwoman Hannah Butler is thoroughly bored and also feels trapped working as a maid for Lady Hamilton. Hannah must work for four years to pay off the debts incurred by her father. So when gold prospector Hans Nelson offers her a way out, she jumps at the chance to become his wife and soon finds herself in Alaska. However, the couple is unprepared for the deprivations of the densely crowded gold-rush town and find themselves setting sail for a distant fjord populated by Tlingit Indians led by the wise man Negook. They are accompanied by a hulking Civil War vet who is deeply traumatized by what he has seen and done during the war, a charming Irishman who possesses superior sailing skills, and a Dutchman who claims that Lituya Bay will yield enough gold to make them all rich. And they do indeed find gold, but they also find themselves overmatched by the harsh weather, the unforgiving landscape, and the treachery of their own hearts. First-novelist D’Urso will keep her readers enthralled with this adventurous story relayed in crisp, cinematic prose.