Customer Reviews

The Fire and the Gold

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I learned a lot about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the society of the day. It was interesting and entertaining. An enjoyable read for the YA audience!

On the eighteenth of April in 1906 a violent earthquake shook San Francisco. The fires that followed turned the city into a burning, smoky nightmare. That was the day Melora Cranby returned from Chicago. Unaware of the crisis ahead, her thoughts were on handsome Quent Seymour of Nob Hill. Their engagement must be broken when she reached home, however much it might disturb her mother.

But in one day the comfortable world she knew was swept away. When she reached the house, her family was gone and the fire was creeping closer. In the streets thousands of distraught refugees pushed their way to parks high above the frightening sounds of the angry, red flames. Beneath them the city crackled and roared and exploded.

For Melora the days that followed were filled with new experiences. There was the surprising encounter with impetuous Tony Ellis; and the conflict that was to grow between Tony and Quent-a conflict into which her younger sister Cora was drawn. There was her mother who had such definite ideas about the man Melora should marry. However, spirited Melora had as many ideas of her own.

By New Year's Eve a new San Francisco was emerging from the ruins and Melora was ready to make an important decision about her life and her love.