Maid of Gold
by Edeana Malcolm
(reviewed by Britta Gundersen)
With Maid of Gold, local author Edeana Malcolm is at the top of her game. In her ninth novel, the author brings readers the story of Jane and James – ordinary names for characters who are far from ordinary.
As she has done with other works of historical fiction, Malcolm performs a bit of alchemy as she spins real events it into an engaging tale. In this case, it was the marriage of two ancestors who lived most of their lives firmly rooted in Quebec. But passenger lists from sailing ships and an 1853 marriage certificate show that Jane Inglis and James Houghton, both very young and somewhat naive, spent more than a year in Australia at the height of the 1850s gold rush.
Like her main characters, Malcolm went prospecting (in this case, for a good yarn). From scant details, she creates the story of Jane, a young woman who, for more than one reason, crosses the globe to join others bound for the Australian gold fields. Jane is both rash and sensible. At times she is head-strong; other times she is emotional, as a woman not yet twenty years old may have been. In short, she is a complex, fully-developed character.
James is a bit of a dreamer whose love for his new wife turns to loathing when she shares her deepest secret. However, by the standards of the mid-1800s, he is a man of honour and Malcolm’s depiction is entirely credible.
In the end (well, not really the end), Jane and James return to Canada, though not together.
Each minor character is a small nugget. Mac and his family, determined to create a future in Australia, Mrs. Malloy and her children, who bear witness to Jane’s bias against Catholics and James’ sense of compassion, Miss Ashley, who sets her sights on James and Mr. Davis, a Welshman-turned-gold-miner, who proposes to Jane on a regular basis all bring Maid of Gold to life. Finally, there is James’s family, set up in contrast to Jane’s own.
Settings are treated with great care: the chill of Quebec City winters; the charred remains of the 1852 Montreal fire; the bustle of New York City’s harbour; the mud and muck of Melbourne; the mysteries and dangers of the Australian bush. Conditions on a plodding sailing ship, a speedy clipper ship and North American passenger trains ring true. Clearly, the author dug deeply to research conditions in miners’ tent camps, mine sites and the rough and tumble communities that were beginning to rise out of the Australian bush.
Historical events such as the miners’ protests in the towns of Bendigo and Ballarat and 1850 sensibilities and prejudices related to religion, race, place of origin and class are well-researched. Readers who wish to explore these topics may refer to Malcolm’s helpful bibliography.
Edeana Malcolm proves once again that there is treasure to be found in the true stories of our ancestors and leaves readers wondering what gems they will discover between the covers of her next book.
(Maid of Gold, is available directly from the author, or as an e-book or Print on Demand at Draft2Digital. Copies will also be available at the Victoria Book Fair on November 23, 2024.)
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