Silver Echoes: A Gold Digger Novel by Rebecca Rosenberg; The Adventures of Baby Doe Tabor’s Wild Thrill Seeking Daughter

 Silver Echoes: A Gold Digger Novel by Rebecca Rosenberg; The Adventures of Baby Doe Tabor’s Wild Thrill Seeking Daughter 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: When I read about Rose Mary Echo Silver Dollar Tabor (1889-1925) on Wikipedia and in the epilogue in Rebecca Rosenberg’s Historical Fiction novel, Gold Digger: The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor, I knew that she would be an interesting person to read about. I was not wrong.

Of course that is to be expected. Rosenberg's Historical Fiction novels are about remarkable outstanding and highly interesting women and her latest, Silver Echoes: A Gold Digger Novel is no exception. Two novels, Champagne Widows and Madame Pommery, were about Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin and Jeanne Alexandrine Louise Melin Pommery respectively entrepreneurs and vintners who made the French wine industry what it is today. Her previous book, Gold Digger was about Elizabeth McCourt “Baby Doe” Tabor and her rise from mine owner and worker to Denver socialite and her fall after Horace Tabor, her politician husband, died and the Panic of 1893 wiped out her family fortune.

This time Baby Doe’s younger daughter, Silver Dollar takes the lead and she is every bit her mother's daughter in her desire to stand out and her ability to draw controversy and scandal like a magnet. 

The novel covers about twenty years and alternates between Silver Dollar and Baby Doe’s points of view. Silver Dollar's perspective is set in the 1910’s-20’s as she embarks on an entertainment career, unpredictable romances with dangerous men, and potentially undiagnosed mental illness. Baby Doe's is set in 1932 after Silver Dollar’s death is reported. Baby Doe is trying to get her Matchless Mine running again while giving background information on a biopic about her and her late husband.

As with many Historical Fiction novels, we get not only the main story of the protagonist’s life but the impact that their lives had on those who outlived and learned from them. In this case, both mother and daughter are well written formidable presences with captivating stories that draw in the Readers.

If Baby Doe embodies the spirit of the Gilded Age with her self-made entrepreneurship, sudden glamorous affluence, and the ability to talk tough while dressing classy, then Silver Dollar embodies the Roaring 20’s with her effervescent joie de vivre, her constant mobility, and modern independent spirit.

Silver Dollar begins her journey as a bit player for a photoplay company to support herself and her mother after Horace dies, they are left destitute by the Economic Panic, and their older daughter and sister, Lily abandons them. While her work is for survival and she sends money to her mother, Silver Dollar is not unaware what it could mean for her so she creates lavish stunts like the Slide of Life, to be noticed and recognized. This is where she slides, rather than walks, across a high wire over a large lake.

This opening gives us a taste of the setting and Silver Dollar’s character. This is when movies were in their infancy, not every home had a radio so people found entertainment wherever they could. That often included people going to great extremes to get the audience’s attention. Remember this was the time when Harry Houdini wowed audiences with his escape attempts. When vaudeville houses dotted even small towns so people could pay a few cents to see singers, dancers, jugglers, acrobats, comedians, animal trainers. Many of the vaudevillians would move on to long and successful careers on film, radio, and television. It's the right time for someone bold, daring, and thirsting for adventure and recognition like Silver Dollar.

While Slide of Life gives her the much needed praise and notoriety, it doesn't last. An envious colleague frames her for theft and she is sexually assaulted by a long time family friend so she goes on the run. This happens a lot in the book. She finds some semblance of fame, excitement, and wealth. A place and position that can give her prominence and stability. Then, something happens that causes her to end that and leave for her next adventure.

She becomes an actress, dancer, singer, animal tamer among others and meets an array of film stars, mobsters, and other celebrities of the early 20th century. It's a dizzying colorful ride, but it can't be accused of being boring.

Eventually Silver Dollar finds fame as a tiger tamer. Her interactions with the tigers consist of patience, trust, strength, courage, and determination. It makes sense that someone who is wild and reckless would tame animals as wild and reckless as she is. She sees kindred spirits in her tigers and they see a human that loves and understands them while being a dominant and authority figure. 

There is a darker edge to this novel that is found within Silver Dollar herself. While she gives off a fearless personality, inwardly she is insecure, uncertain, and is always questioning herself. She has moments of doubt, reason, and conscience that put a stop to more dangerous and violent actions. However there is a darker side to her personality, literally.

In the Afterward, Rosenberg stated that there is some evidence, albeit circumstantial and never outright acknowledged, that Silver Dollar had Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Rosenberg took that theory to its fullest fruition by giving Silver Dollar an alter, Echo LaVode, which was a name that the real Silver Dollar sometimes used during her professional career.

Echo is the darker aspect of Silver Dollar’s extroverted nature. She has no fail safes, reservations, or blockers that impair her actions. She acts without thinking and when she is in charge she puts herself and Silver into dangerous situations like drinking, taking drugs, visiting speakeasies, and flirting with dangerous men who are violent and unpredictable. Since Echo parties at night and Silver Dollar works during the day, Silver Dollar herself gets little sleep. Therefore, her body goes through physical changes that weaken her host and leaves the alter to be in control more times than she should. This control leaves Silver Dollar helpless and vulnerable, a victim of Echo’s unpredictable tendencies.

However, Echo occasionally shows a softer side. She emerges when Silver Dollar needs physical protection. She is horrified when she witnesses African-Americans being lynched by KKK members suggesting that there are actions that are abhorrent even to her. She is also clever enough that if Silver Dollar can't think of an escape plan, she can. Even though Echo is an alternate personality, she is every bit as multifaceted as her host.

Silver Dollar’s story is one of instability, going from place to place, and living fast and hard. It's about using life to take as much as you can. By contrast, Baby Doe's story is about being sedentary, restoring home and professions to their former glory, and becoming the holder of wonderful and painful memories. 

In 1932, Baby Doe is trying her damnedest to honor Horace's final wish to hold onto the Matchless Mine and living in denial that her daughter has died (She believes that Silver Dollar was sent to a convent). She tells her memories of her Leadville home and family to filmmaker, Carl Erickson who was involved with Silver Dollar and tried to be a steady solid presence in her life.

As with her portrayal in Gold Digger, Baby Doe hovers between a tough talking frontierswoman and a society matron. She is ready with a shotgun if she feels threatened and when Carl wants to understand her, she takes him to the Matchless Mine. She is ready with a sharp comment and matter of fact nature so Carl knows who's really in charge and he does not dream of making the script too sentimental or frilly. Even in old age and after she has lost nearly everything and everyone important to her, she still is a force to be reckoned with.

The movie's Denver premiere gives Baby Doe some of the glamor that she once had. Gone is the tough gal with a dilapidated mine and a shotgun and instead she is once again a lady in an elegant gown and a central figure in Denver’s social set. Her good carefree days are back at least briefly.

The ending is a bit of wish fulfillment that veers towards speculation and alternate universes. It gives a finality to the mother and daughter's stories and reminds us that these were two strong fascinating women with a bond that was never broken but changed. Mother and daughter learned from and loved each other.

Gold Digger: The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor by Rebecca Rosenberg; Another Gold Standard Historical Women's Fiction By Rosenberg

Gold Digger: The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor by Rebecca Rosenberg; Another Gold Standard Historical Women's Fiction By Rosenberg

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

This book is available on Voracious Readers Only 

Spoilers: Rebecca Rosenberg has made a career of writing Historical Fiction novels about fascinating and captivating women whose names might have skipped under modern radars but who left lasting legacies in their time and in ours. Her previous work, The Champagne Widows series, captured Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin and Jeanne Alexandrine Louise Melin Pommery, two Frenchwomen whose business sense, marketing style, and resilience changed the wine industry forever. 

This time Rosenberg takes her writing talents to the United States and gives us probably her most captivating, controversial, and outstanding protagonist yet in Gold Digger: The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor. Elizabeth McCourt “Baby Doe” Tabor (1854-1935) was an interesting figure in Colorado history. A socialite, entrepreneur, and miner, Baby Doe managed to inspire controversy because of her willingness to work alongside the male miners and her scandalous second marriage to businessman and eventual Senator, Horace Tabor. 

Gold Digger covers a lot of ground in Baby Doe’s life from her first marriage to Harvey Doe, their move from Wisconsin to Colorado, the opening and backbreaking work at the mines particularly the Does’s Central City gold mine and Tabor’s Leadville Matchless silver mine, the controversies surrounding her divorce from Doe and marriage to Tabor, the rise of Leadville and Denver as big cities,the birth of her two daughters, Lily and Silver Dollar, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, and the Panic of 1893 which wiped out the Tabor’s fortunes. It’s a tough life going from rags to riches back to rags again especially in the mining towns which became thriving metropolises but still had a lot of toes in the Old West Frontier Town “only the strong survive kill or be killed” mentality. 

Baby Doe is written as someone with a lot of strength, spirit, and independence. This is particularly noticeable when she works at the mine. She dresses in trousers and shirts and works with a pickaxe alongside the men (this incident is where the nickname, Baby Doe was coined).

 Despite many local women and Harvey’s objections, she continues to work. She is not someone who is afraid to get messy and do the hard supposedly unladylike work. These actions show her as resilient and more capable than many of the men around her, particularly her feckless first husband and emotional second husband.

That independent spirit is also revealed in Baby Doe’s stormy love life. When she learns that Harvey is spending time with prostitutes, she isn't afraid to chuck him out and file for divorce.

At times, Baby Doe acts very impulsively without thinking of the long term consequences. Her carelessness manifests itself during her affair with Harvey Tabor since it begins while he is married to his first wife, Augusta. Baby Doe is controversial enough as a divorcee but having an extramarital affair is enough to make her the subject of scorn and render her unacceptable to the growing Denver high society. 

Their affair culminates in Tabor's divorce and his and Baby Doe’s marriage but it does cause some long term ramifications during Tabor's run for Senate. Their financial difficulties are also augmented by Tabor’s former wife and estranged son who refuse to give them much needed aid because of the hurt that they still feel over Tabor and Baby Doe's actions.

Baby Doe’s adaptable nature is present during her second marriage. Once the hard-edged woman in men's clothes that worked in the mines, she transforms into a society matron. Though there are many who are still scandalized by the Tabor's affair and Augusta and her inner circle are quite combative, Baby Doe manages to acquire a good reputation. In the Gilded Age, nothing removes a stain on one's character faster than money and the Tabor’s use their silver mined wealth to their advantage. Baby Doe's fascination with beautiful clothes and the latest fashion make her a style icon. They also make Denver a cultural center by providing funds to open an opera house and host arts events. When she was poor, Baby Doe lived hard and tough. When she was rich, Baby Doe lived ostentatiously and provocatively. Either way, she was someone who left quite an unforgettable impression on those who knew her.

Rosenberg’s next book, Silver Echoes, is a sequel to Gold Digger. Presumably it is about Baby Doe’s daughter, Silver Dollar, who like her mother before her was pretty wild, had a controversial love life, and left quite an impression. If this book is any indication, both mother and daughter Tabor still have a lot to say and memorable stylish ways of saying them.

 

New Book Alert: Madame Pommery:The Creator of Brut Champagne A Champagne Widows Novel by Rebecca Rosenberg; Historical Fiction Novel About the Female Vintner Entrepreneur is Sweeter Than Wine or Champagne

 

New Book Alert: Madame Pommery:The Creator of Brut Champagne A Champagne Widows Novel by Rebecca Rosenberg; Historical Fiction Novel About the Female Vintner Entrepreneur is Sweeter Than Wine or Champagne 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Rebecca Rosenberg gave us, Champagne Widows, a sparking novel about the rise of Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin, a Frenchwoman who became 

the first female wine entrepreneur creating Veuve Clicquot during the backdrop of Napoleon's reign.

Her latest historical fiction novel actually surpasses her previous effort. This time she gives us Madame Pommery, about Jeanne Alexandrine Louise Melin Pommery, creator of Brut Champagne during the Franco-Prussian War. It is a captivating novel about a woman's struggle to survive war, run her own business in a male dominated society, provide a future for her children, and create something beautiful, unique, and lasting.

Right away Rosenberg gives us different people with her two leads. Champagne Widows presented Barbe-Nicole first as a young woman rejecting arranged marriages, helping out in the vineyards with her powerful sense of smell, and studying the business side of selling wine. She is a young woman at the start of her life's journey.

Alexandrine is in the middle of her journey. She is close to her 50's and still recovering from the death of her husband, Louis. She is trying to retain a brave front for her two year old daughter, Louise and curtailing the sharp criticisms from her school aged son, Louis who blames his father's death on his need to return to work after Louise's surprise birth. Alexandrine also has to contend with the loss of her family finances and that unless something is done soon, they will be left destitute.

Alexandrine's character arc shows her challenging the role expected of her as an upper class Frenchwoman. She was originally someone who read and followed etiquette books to the letter and got involved in philanthropic activities like teaching and helping reformed prostitutes all with a sense of detachment and noblesse oblige. 

After her husband's death those detached standards no longer exist when she has to be the sole breadwinner. At Louis' funeral, she responds with emotion and breaks the protocol because of her grief. She realizes for the first time that these etiquette rules are no substitute for human emotions like grief or loss. This moment cements Alexandrine as a woman who is willing to challenge expectations to acknowledge her independence.

Alexandrine exhibits this independence when she decides to run her Pommery winery herself. While women usually are not permitted to run businesses, widows are and Alexandrine uses that loophole to take over the wine business. Many like her husband's former business partner, Reynard Wolf question her abilities and decisions. They represent the old guard, men who believe that women should be coddled and protected and are incapable of being hard-nosed entrepreneurs. Many of Alexandrine's decisions are argued against by people like Wolf because of their short sightedness of hearing suggestions come from a woman who is going against the way things are usually done.

Many of Alexandrine's ideas end up being beneficial for her company and makes Pommery stand out. One of them is to specialize in champagne which she prefers to wine and is often used for special events occasions so it attracts a higher clientele. Many of Alexandrine's ideas come about by her own ingenuity. 

She finds a series of limestones and chalk pits called crayeres and uses them as cellars to store the bottles. 

An accident of leaving grapes out too long creates brut champagne, champagne that is known for its dryness and sweetness. While Brut is questioned throughout the novel and rejected by many, it had a long lasting impact so that now it is one of the most popular types of champagne.

Alexandrine also displays an eye for art and beauty. She hired sculptors and artists to turn her champagne house into a work of art with sculptures depicting various figures, particularly from myth and legend. This is so visitors can not only see how the champagne is made but could be awed at the creative beauty displayed around them. They can make a day of it.

One of the drawbacks to Rosenberg's previous book was the unnecessary inclusion of a supernatural subplot in which a demonic figure called the Red Man possesses Napoleon. Thankfully, there are no supernatural elements in this book. Well not major ones. There is a possibly magic or mundane situation that is actually presented by none other than Barbe-Nicole herself! There is a sweet passing the torch moment between the two entrepreneurs early in Alexandrine's career where Barbe-Nicole encourages Alexandrine to take the business for herself. 

Barbe-Nicole also gives a cat that appears to be a matagot (a spirit that takes the form of a cat) to Alexandrine's daughter, Louise. The matagot, called Felix, does not appear to do anything overly magical except disappear and reappear on occasion and live an unusually long time. However, he could be a sign of good luck and prosperity letting Alexandrine know that she is on the right path.

In Champagne Widows, many of Napoleon's violent and warlike tactics could be attributed to the influence of the Red Man. Madame Pommery does not need such a paranormal excuse for people to do awful things. The Franco-Prussian War occurs because of land disputes and avaricious leaders who want more and don't care about the soldiers and civilians who have to suffer and die for it.

Alexandrine is forced to house the Prussian soldiers. She retains politeness but steely reserve as she serves these men who have no reason to be in her country. She also defends her daughter and female servants and employees from the lecherous soldier's advances.

Alexandrine shows courage and quick thinking when men are conscripted to fight including her employees and her son. Since she still needs the grapes to be treated and champagne to be made, she recruits women from a nearby brothel for assistance. Remembering her philanthropy over the years, the women happily comply and prove to be just as valuable a workforce as the men. 

Alexandrine was known to be a kind and charitable employer giving retirement funds and health benefits for her employees and that is on display throughout the book. She treats her employees with kindness and devotion regardless of gender, previous occupation, income, or religion. She is also very encouraging towards them in her personal life. Damas, a boy from the village who is rendered mute, proves to be an adept vintner and eventually becomes a close friend to Louise. 

One of the strongest relationships that develops is between Alexandrine and Lucille, Louise's former nanny. After Louis is sent to war, Alexandrine is surprised to learn that Lucille and Louis were not only romantically involved but had secretly married and Lucille is carrying his child. Besides Lucille being a servant, their relationship flies into convention because Lucille is Jewish. Once Alexandrine learns this, she treats Lucille kindly and cares for her like a daughter. 

Alexandrine's kindness towards Lucille not only improves their 

bond but Alexandrine's bond with her children. Louis who was once critical of his mother now admires her strength and perseverance seeing how she also loved his wife and child. Louise also finds her bond with her mother improves when she finds herself in a similar situation after the war. These actions show that Alexandrine's family will thrive long after she's gone.

Madame Pommery is a better book than Champagne Widows. Rosenberg has clearly given us a great historical fiction about an amazing woman. It is a historical fiction that is sweeter than a glass of wine or a flute of brut champagne.

New Book Alert: Champagne Widows by Rebecca Rosenberg; Sparkling Historical Fiction Novel About A Businesswoman's Rise to the Vintner World in Napoleonic France

 

New Book Alert: Champagne Widows by Rebecca Rosenberg; Sparkling Historical Fiction Novel About A Businesswoman's Rise to the Vintner World in Napoleonic France

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Champagne Widows by Rebecca Rosenberg lives up to its name. It is a book that bubbles and sparkles with memorable characterization and French History. 

In 1797, Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin resisted all attempts to get married, especially to a much older man chosen by her parents. She is longing for Francois, her childhood sweetheart, now currently serving in Napoleon's army. When Francois returns, he is suffering from PTSD and the early symptoms of mental illness that is genetic within his family. Barbe-Nicole is worried about him and that concern transforms into love as she wishes to marry him despite her parent's wishes.

Besides marriage, Barbe-Nicole has other things on her mind. She inherited a strong sense of smell from her great-grandfather. The enhanced sense is referred to as La Nez, The Nose, and often results in severe migraines and suspicion from people around them. However, Barbe-Nicole is also able to use La Nez to her advantage when she can smell how good fermented grapes are in the winemaking process. Her strong sense of smell and developing business skills become instrumental in Barbe-Nichole's drive to become an established vintner and ascend into the wine making business world.

Oh and while all of this realism is going on with female entrepreneurs, a country still reeling from the aftermath of a violent revolution and subsequent Reign of Terror and empire,  and soldiers returning home from war, there are some supernatural elements. La Nez carries a curse with it, a curse that Barbe-Nichole fears almost as much as she welcomes the opportunities that such an innate gift brings. Also a strange Red Man follows Napoleon around and serves as his coach driver. No one knows who he is and he doesn't have a name but Barbe-Nichole is suspicious and terrified of him. It may be that smell of sulphur that surrounds him.

Champagne Widows is a brilliant book mostly. There are plots that fall flat like a bottle of champagne that has been opened too long. The supernatural subplots are a distraction and are almost unnecessary in a plot that could do just as well without them. The "curse" in Barbe-Nicole's family seems to be the result of heightened senses and the sometimes negative side effects that are often associated with them. Of course someone with a strong sense of smell would be susceptible to migraines if they smelled heavy perfume, sweat, grapes, and less pleasant smells all day.

 Many of Francois' troubles come from his time in war and his neurological problems. Yes there were some people who might have attributed such things to paranormal means, but this is also set during the Enlightenment when people investigated science and medical means to determine such causes. The curse is unnecessary in this setting and plot.

The Red Man's influence over Napoleon promises to be an interesting plot point for another book. It would make a better focal point in a dark supernatural horror book devoted to the Emperor and his sinister spiritual advisor. In this book however, it is a mere subplot and distraction. There are some pretty creepy moments when Barbe-Nicole senses the Red Man's presence and the ending is juicy with irony and historical foreshadowing. But these are better served in a novella or longer work that is actually about them rather than jammed into a realistic novel that didn't need them.

What shines the most in this book is the story of Barbe-Nicole and her fight to be recognized as an independent businesswoman and her struggles within her family that has been left traumatized by war, mental illness, and death. 

Francois' inner struggles deal a lot with his experiences in war and within his family. We are shown a few chapters of battles but mostly they deal with Napoleon and The Red Man's fights. Instead of any romantic view of Napoleon, we see an unbalanced conceited man child who is more concerned with making his name heard and doesn't care how many people have to die for it. Francois is able to see this realistic view and that increases his cynicism.

Francois is often written like someone whose thoughts are elsewhere and it makes sense. Even when he is physically with Barbe-Nicole, his mind is still on the battlefield because he never left it. Words like liberty, equality, and fraternity are as foreign as words in other languages to him. He had seen people on all sides acting contrary to those values and wondered if they ever existed at all.

The mental illness is another hurdle in Francois's life and is a stronger detriment to his post-war life. He sees his mother regress further and further into a dependent and childlike state and fears his own future. Every nightmare, every dark mood, and every anxiety attack could be an early sign of the disorder that is destroying her life. Even his moments of happiness, like rekindling his romance with Barbe-Nicole are tempered with fear such as if they wed and have a child, that child will also inherit his family's illness.

With Francois struggling with his own mental state, Barbe-Nicole has to show resourcefulness and self-reliance and she does. Those personality traits are shown early on when she is being courted by potential suitors. She thinks of some pretty ingenious ways to get rid of them like convincing one that La Nez is contagious.

Barbe-Nicole also shows sharp business skills. When she, instead of her uninterested wayward brother, views her family's finances, she sees that her father is in debt.

 She is clear minded enough to put herself to work. She is also someone who wants to learn everything about the wine making process and isn't afraid to go out into the field to pick grapes and get her hands dirty. 

Barbe-Nicole runs into a lot of animosity and derision as a female entrepreneur, but her femininity also proves to be a strong asset. She makes public appearances in the presence of Napoleon and his wife, Josephine. They are charmed by her personality, appearance, and skills. Josephine even confides about the problems in her marriage. While Barbe-Nicole runs the business in France, Francois takes business trips as far as Russia to sell and promote their wine. When an employee is revealed to be a thief, she isn't afraid to get tough with him.

 She diversifies her brand by adding champagne to their products. Barbe-Nicole ascends her business because of these connections and her ability to change her product to fit her customers. This makes her an adept businesswoman who survives and thrives during the tumultuous time of war and despotism.

Champagne Widows is flawed but for the most part it is a brilliant book that captures how women can live and become successful in the man's world of business. This book should give Rosenberg the sweet smell of success.