The Rush by Beth Lewis

Gold fever has taken him. I believe he means to kill me…

Canada, 1898. The gold rush is on in the frozen wilderness of the Yukon. Fortunes are made as quickly as they’re lost, and Dawson City has become a lawless settlement.

In its midst, three women are trying to survive on the edge of civilisation. Journalist Kate has travelled hundreds of miles after receiving a letter from her sister, who fears that her husband will kill her. Martha’s hotel and livelihood are under threat from the local strongman, who is set on buying up the town. And down by the river, where gold shimmers from between the rocks, Ellen feels her future slip away as her husband fails to find the fortune they risked so much to seek.

When a woman is murdered, Kate, Martha and Ellen find their lives, fates and fortunes intertwined. But to unmask her killer they must navigate a desperate land run by dangerous men who will do anything for a glimpse of gold…

Rich in its setting and characters, The Rush is a gripping historical crime novel perfect for readers of Stef Penney by way of Kristin Hannah and C Pam Zhang.

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Beth Lewis is one of my auto-buy authors, and so it’s a little surprising that it’s taken me this long to read her latest novel, The Rush (thanks, Eva, for giving me a nudge!)  The Klondike Gold Rush is often seen from a male perspective, but Lewis seeks to redress the balance in this novel by focussing on three women inspired by real historical figures.  Kate, Ellen, and Martha are all very different, and yet each displays strength in a setting that would typically see them sidelined. 

Kate was my favourite of the three.  Officially, she’s travelling north to document the realities of gold mining, but in truth, she’s hunting for her sister who has fled an abusive marriage.  Kate refuses to be constrained by society’s expectations.  She’s travelling alone with a male guide, and quickly swaps her dresses for trousers, relishing in their practicality and the freedom that comes with being mistaken for a man at first glance.  And you do not tell Kate that she, or indeed any woman, cannot or should not do something – she is stubborn and will immediately prove you wrong.  I loved her. 

Ellen’s strength is more subtle.  After three years in the Canadian wilderness, she’s now resigned to the fact that her husband is an incompetent and vainglorious man who’s unlikely to achieve his ambition of becoming rich.  Hers is a strength born out of necessity, and she’s weathered everything that the Canadian wilderness, and her idiot husband, can throw at her.  Perhaps surprisingly, she doesn’t hate the life of a prospector, she’s just not so sure that she wants to share it with the man who dragged her there.  Ellen’s story is one of self-recognition and I loved seeing her develop as events unfold.  

Martha, a hotel and bar owner – and brothel madam – is perhaps a little harder to sympathise with, but I loved her sass, and the women working for her are at least well looked after.  She recognises that the real money in the gold rush is not made by digging, but by catering to the various needs of those who do.  As a rival tries to take over her business, she meets his increasingly underhanded tactics with a steely determination, and only a fool would underestimate her. 

Lewis vividly captures both the beauty and brutality of the northern landscape and the dangers of the trail itself.  We see Kate’s difficult journey north, and while some of her fellow travellers show the “every man for himself” mentality I was expecting, we also see the unexpected kindness of strangers who offer help and support and who expect nothing in return.  I loved the sense of camaraderie brought about by shared hardship that becomes a theme of the novel.

These three women are ultimately drawn together by a violent crime, and while each has her own reasons for seeking the truth, they recognise that they are stronger together, forming an alliance that gradually develops into friendship.  I loved seeing them support each other as things come to a climax, even as certain truths come to light.

The Rush is a fantastic novel and a refreshing look at an experience so often told from a male perspective. Lewis doesn’t shy away from the bleaker moments, offering an unflinching insight into what the Klondike Gold Rush was like for women, but she tells the tale with so much heart that it’s impossible not to love it.  It’s another fantastic read from an author who never disappoints.