Letters from the Corrugated Castle: A Novel of Gold Rush California, 1850-1852

Dear Cousin Sallie,
I begin with words I never thought to write:
I am not an orphan!

Thirteen-year-old Eldora has always believed that her mother died when she was very little, and for nine years she has lived with people that she calls Aunt and Uncle. The year is 1850, and all three have exchanged their quiet lives in New Bedford, Massachusetts, for new ones in San Francisco, the rapidly growing city that is the heart of the California Gold Rush. Shortly after their arrival, they recei...