VEINS OF GOLD

Abandoned by their father who has joined the Gold Rush, Gentry and her siblings, Rooster and Pearl, fend for themselves in rural Utah. Narrator Piper Goodeve anchors her self-reliant, pragmatic heroine with resolute tones and provides attuned portrayals of settlers, Native Americans, and other characters. Winn, a young man with mysterious abilities, appears after a series of occurrences unsettles the region. When he discovers Gentry's necklace allows her to see magic, the pair explore magic and nature in the face of pressing domestic concerns. Goodeve presents agonizing choices relating to love, family stability, and newfound knowledge with deliberate pacing and subtle emotional cues. Despite the depiction of magic's influence on an alternate nineteenth-century America, the story's heart beats strongest at its familial core. J.R.T. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2018]