Cover Image: Gold Digger

Gold Digger

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Member Reviews

Seriously, Rebecca Rosenberg needs to devote the rest of her life to writing novels for the rest of the world; she is literally a masterful author. When I read THE SECRET LIFE OF MRS. LONDON, Ms. Rosenberg's previous novel, I knew that I had found a new favorite author. So needless to say, when GOLD DIGGER came out, I snatched it up right away! And as expected, I was not disappointed. She brought Lizzie to life, and brilliantly fleshed out the life of the gold mine and the men (and women!) who mined them. Lizzie's strength and endurance drew me to her immediately, and had me cheering her on. Just so stinkin' good!! A definite recommend!
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Gold Digger, The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor was just an okay read for me. It was just hard for me to get into. I give it three stars.
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This novel was engrossing from beginning to end. Based on the real-life story of Baby Doe Tabor, Rosenberg has created a lively and moving portrait of this pioneer woman.  Her indomitable spirit and fierce determination, despite the challenging circumstances, is brought to life here, with Rosenberg’s talent for fine details and her astute attention to the history of the Gold Rush. I’m a sucker for love stories and was drawn into the telling of Baby Doe and Horace Tabor’s relationship and the sacrifices they both made. I also have a life-long fascination for this period in American history in the 19th century, having grown up reading and treasuring all of Laura Ingall Wilder’s books. I enjoyed Rosenberg’s fresh perspective in Gold Digger, and learned a lot about mining for gold and silver in the West as well as about our country’s early beginnings. Curl up on the couch with this one, and enjoy!
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Rebecca Rosenberg tells the intriguing story of Baby Doe Tabor in this page-turner, Gold Digger: The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor. Baby Doe was a beautiful and strong woman determined to make it on her own in the Wild West after being abandoned by her husband. A historical, rollicking western with an inspiring love story! I can't wait to read the next chapter in Baby Doe's life!
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Newlyweds Elizabeth “Baby Doe” and Harvey Doe travel to Colorado in 1878 to manage a gold mine belonging to Harvey’s father.  Baby Doe is counting on their success to help support her parents in Wisconsin. Harvey proves to be inept at management and his poor work ethic forces Baby Doe to get involved in the daily operations.

Harveys eventually abandons Baby Doe which forces her to navigate life as a single woman. She is shunned by her former friends and has trouble gaining acceptance as an attractive working woman. Her path crosses with Horace Tabor who is a prosperous silver miner and on the path to be a US senator. A strong connection is formed but their complicated lives put a strain on the relationship.

Gold Digger: The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor by Rebecca Rosenberg is a historical fiction novel that provides insight into life during the Colorado Silver Boom. The book is well researched and includes engaging dialogue that draws readers into the time period. I look forward to the sequel about Baby Doe.
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Growing up in Colorado, I studied about Baby Doe Tabor in school.  I remember that she was portrayed to us in a somewhat negative manner, in direct contrast to "Molly" Margaret Brown, another famous name from the same era.  Molly was lauded as a hero for setting up a juvenile justice system, driving an ambulance in WWI, fighting for miner's rights and surviving the Titanic.  She was readily accepted into Denver society and you can tour her mansion today.  Baby Doe, on the other hand, was generally regarded as a gold digger, as the name of the book implies.  She was a beautiful divorcee who enjoyed flirting with men, especially those with money since she had none.  She was known as a boisterous homewrecker for breaking up then US Senator Horace Tabor's 25 year marriage and it was thought to be scandalous when they married due to the huge gap in their ages.   It was definitely assumed that she married for money, and she was never accepted into Denver society when they moved there.  After losing their fortune and her husband's death, she moved to Leadville to live out the rest of her life.  She was still considered an outcast, and some people thought she was crazy.  Not a pretty picture of Baby Doe, but this was the impression I was left with after studying her in school.

I am so glad that I had the chance to read this book.  Even though I realize that it is fiction based on fact, it made me see Baby Doe from a different point of view.  She was doing the best she could do to survive and live well in a time that was not necessarily kind to women.  She knew what she wanted, and she was strong enough to rise above the scandal and gossip and go for it.  If she were living today, it is likely that future history would look back on her in a better light.  She would be seen as strong and independent

I'm often skeptical of reading books about Colorado or that take place in Colorado because I often find glaring mistakes.  It is apparent in this book, however, that the author did her homework.  The book is well-researched and beautifully written.  Instead of always being on the look out for errors, I was able to just sit back and enjoy the story.  I'm looking forward to the sequel.
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This was a complimentary copy from netgalley - many thanks

I LOVED this!!!

Must admit, I've not read much from this era and to read about a woman in what is very much a man's world was illuminating

Well written and engaging, this author is new to me, but I will certainly be looking out for more of her work
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A well-written, interesting novel about a character in history I hadn't heard of before. Rebecca Rosenberg did a wonderful job of keeping the pace moving and the reader reading. A defiinte must read for those who enjoy historical fiction.
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This book is free right now on Kindle Unlimited, but I'd have paid to read it. Confession: this is the first book I've read about that period in Colorado that wasn't for kids. It was a treacherous time to be a woman out there for sure.



In 1878, Lizzie didn't have much choice about getting married, so she chose well, and Harvey was a good catch, his father was mayor of Oshkosh after all. They don't love each other and Lizzie ends up divorcing him. She stays in Colorado and after a while, ends up remarrying. The book goes through most of her life, good times and bad. The research that went into the book is extensive, and I got a great feel for what life was like back then. This is a true story, and I found the whole thing so interesting. You get the details of all parts of life mining, the wealth, losses, and how people were willing to do just about anything to succeed.



This book ends with her 2nd husband's death and the start of her new life alone with her two daughters. I'm happy to say that there is a sequel planned for later this year called Silver Dollar.
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Gold Digger The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor by





Rebecca Rosenberg, published by Lion Heart Publishing is the true story of 22 years old Lizzie Doe. The family of Lizzie lost all the fortune during a fire and the girl is constricted of marrying a man, Harvey, she doesn't love going to the West with him. All of it, for helping her parents and trying re-built a dignity inside a pennieless family. Independent, open, immediately Lizzie demostrated to her husband what she was capable of, although the admonition of the husband was clear: here it's not Paris. Harvey Doe and his dad owned a mine and Lizzie immediately understand the opportunities and potentialities asking for searching for gold.
Sure the line put on the mouth of the dad  of Harvey  describes the situation of ladies at the end of 1870s.
“You, charming lady, can help by making a good home for my
son: cook hot meals, wash the laundry, clean the house.”
Joining the sewing circle organized by influential ladies of the city Lizzie discovers much more about mining although situations with the ladies of the circle became hard at a certain point.
Her relationship with the husband deteriorated after a while as well. Harvey was not exactly a saint. He visited brothels, lost,gambling a lot of money.
Pregnant, alone and owning a mine, Baby Doe later met along her way an older partner, a magnate pretty rich in Tabor. Tabor infatuated by her left the wife and married her.

A wonderful book this one, a quick reading because plenty of dialogues, and a fascinating portrait of a lady who, substantially was in grade of breaking a lot of rules, first of all the one of genres and consideration, still pretty poor that women had in the American society: just housewives for their men. For sure she was the Scarlett O'Hara of the West a feareless and free lsdy  

Beautiful! 

I thank NetGalley and the Rebecca Rosenberg for this ebook.
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There's a little big of a double entendre going on with the title. Baby /Doe heads west with her new husband, Harvey. Almost from the start, you know this is not a marriage that is going to go along swimmingly. Harvey has asthma and the altitude in Colorado is causing him a lot of difficulty. The mining life, definitely isn't for him.



Baby is soon left alone and pregnant and forced to find her own way. Thankfully she ended up working with a haberdashery before her life really starts changing



That change comes in the face of  Horace Tabor, and older married silver miner.



So much scandal there. It doesn't really help matters that Baby Doe is beautiful. She's pretty smart too. Or at least smart enough to know how to survive. But Horace does have a wife of 20 + years and a son.



This book was so interesting, because like most historical characters, they aren't always likable, but they sure are intriguing.



Sometimes I had to wonder about Baby Doe and the decisions she made. Being brought up Catholic she would have had to have known she wasn't going to have it easy divorcing and remarrying. In 2019 divorce still isn't all that acceptable in the church and considering there was a pregnancy, it would have been pretty hard to get that marriage annulled.



I also wondered about Horace. He had so much to lose leaving his wife.



The power of love, maybe? I wasn't 100 % convinced though until the end.



There's a lot of stuff to learn here too. I think that's what I really love about good historical fiction, you want to learn more and you want to google as you go along. I was constantly checking the Wiki pages for Baby Doe and Horace Tabor to learn more about their lives. You also know that calling it the Wild West was probably an understatement.



What I really liked was the way the story was presented, from both Baby Doe's and Horace's points of view. 

 

This was a fabulous read!
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Before reading Gold Digger, I was completely unfamiliar with who Baby Doe was. In fact, I had never heard of her, however, the description of the novel sounded really interesting, so I was eager to read about this woman with the funny nickname.

I did a lot of Googling while reading Gold Digger – mostly because her story is so wild and reads like fiction, so I was constantly verifying that all the amazing things actually happened to her. While her story has been fictionalized for the novel,  the main events did indeed happen.

It is made clear that Lizzie – soon to be known as Baby Doe – was brought up by her mother to be the beautiful wife to a wealthy man. Her mother fawned over her beauty and groomed her to search for a wealthy man to marry so she could help out her family. Quite an unfortunate kind of upbringing. This perceived duty is heavy on Lizzie. She has made what seems, on paper, to be a good marriage, but it quickly becomes clear that her handsome young husband isn’t cut out for working the mine his father has given him to run.

Lizzie is given her new name by the miners and it sticks. Baby Doe is a hard worker and will stop at nothing to make a living and make the mine succeed. She has incredible strength and fortitude – and she needs it to survive her first marriage and life after she is abandoned by her husband.

I found the book to be very interesting and sometimes almost unbelievable. Gold Digger is only the first part of Baby Doe’s story – there is more to tell and I look forward to reading more about this gutsy woman and her larger than life tale.
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This book is set in Colorado at the time of the gold and silver mining days. The writer gives us glimpses into the history of what it was like back then and though the book is fiction, Baby Doe was real. I enjoyed the book and the way the story and characters brought those times to life for me

If you like historical fiction and want to learn more about the gold and silver mining and what life was like in those days, grab this book.
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Baby Doe (Lizzie McCourt) was a historical figure during the gold and silver rush during the 1870s through the turn of the century in Colorado. Lizzie originally moved to Colorado in the mid-1870s with her new husband to take over his father’s gold mine. She was pregnant when her husband abandoned her and left her with nothing. She was a strong women and was able to find work and support herself. Shortly after her divorce, she met Horace Tabor, a gold and silver miner that became very wealthy and they fell in love. He was already married and was in the process of running for Senator from Colorado. His divorce and marriage to Baby Doe caused quite a scandal and she was never accepted into society. Their wealth was stripped from them when gold became the U.S. standard. Most of his money came from silver mining which became worthless. Baby Doe had both periods of great wealth as well as great poverty. This book ends with Tabor’s death and the start of her new life without him and their two young daughters. The author, Rebecca Rosenberg is planning a sequel that will cover the rest of Baby Doe’s life. The book was well researched and characters quite compelling. The dialogue at times, however, was somewhat stilted. The descriptions were rich and brought that time of Colorado’s mining history to life. I am looking forward to the sequel. I received a copy from NetGalley for an honest review.
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Received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book. It is well written and was well researched. Was especially interesting to me as I live near Denver. Am looking forward to read the sequel, Silver Dollar
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Gold Digger is a historical fiction account of Baby Doe Tabor, a remarkable, independent woman who was immersed in the rough life of mining in Colorado during the late 1800s. The story begins with newly married Baby Doe and her husband leaving Oshkosh, Wisconsin for Colorado. What follows is a saga of loss, love, and learning the hard way that wealth doesn't buy happiness. Baby Doe is not your typical woman of this era. She would prefer to be in the gold mine getting her hands dirty as opposed to being at home living the domestic life. At the same time, she's a real beauty who captures the attention of just about every man she comes across. The term gold digger in the title has multiple meanings - she literally was in the mine digging for gold and, when she was down on her luck, she met a very wealthy married man much older than her who she wound up eventually marrying. She went from rags to riches and back again, but she never gave up. This was a reasonably researched historical account of the evolution of the mining towns in Colorado during the 19th century. I recommend to anyone with an interest in that era or in mining history.
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Fascinating historical novel about Colorado's own Gold Rush and the people whose lives were made and ruined in the gold- and silver-mining industry. I was amazed to learn that Baby Doe and many other figures in the novel were real people. The historical scope of the book was impressive, but the characters weren't very well-developed. Fair warning: the book ends on a cliffhanger -- you'll have to Google what happens to Baby Doe and her family.
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Lizzie Doe goes to Colorado as a bride to operate a gold mine with her husband. She is pregnant and her husband leaves her there alone without funds. She meets Horace Tabor and they are in and out of each other's life for years but above all attracted to each other. There are several men who are there for Lizzie as she struggles along in the mining towns of Colorado. She becomes known as Baby Doe and carries that name for the rest of her life. Baby Doe has many ups and downs. This story is about Horace Tabor also as he is very much a part of her life and she of his. The characters were a real part of Colorado history.
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Elizabeth McCourt's family knew she was destined for greatness based on her beauty and, but Lizzie knew she could do even more. Lizzie was married to Harvey Doe and went off to Colorado to make a fortune from the mines Harvey's family gave him. Only, Harvey wasn't cut out for mining work. Lizzie found herself striking deals and even going in the mines to help keep the mine going and money flowing. Her beauty and ingenuity earned her the name Baby Doe. Harvey soon found mining to be overwhelming and escapes back home abandoning Baby Doe. She decides to stay, get divorced, finds work at a haberdashery and takes up with silver mining mogul Horace Tabor creating a scandal. However, Baby Doe and Horace are happy as they excavate a place for themselves in society.

A true woman of the Wild West, Baby Doe Tabor's story reads as larger than life, but is all fact based. Passion for Baby Doe's story seeps through the pages of Gold Digger with the emotion conveyed through her trials and triumphs. Through Baby Doe a vibrant picture of the mining towns were created, along with the hardships faced there. I was amazed at how Baby Doe always came through whether it was making her way into mining in order to understand the business, finding a way to divorce, running a store, breaking down barriers to society or helping to build her community, Baby Doe was a force to reckoned with. For a woman of her time, Baby Doe accomplished a great deal, especially with the ups and downs in her life. The constant unknowing of what would happen led to a excited feeling the whole way through. The book wraps up at a turning point in Baby Doe's life, but not nearly the end; I'll be looking forward to the next book, Silver Dollar.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
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Newlyweds Lizzie and Harvey Doe are on a train heading west.  Harvey’s father had purchased a gold mine and wants him to go and work the mine in Central City.

Horace Tabor and his wife, Augusta, own a mercantile store in Central City.  They have lived in this town for years and sell all kinds of supplies to new prospectors who arrive in town every day.  To his wife’s chagrin, Horace likes to sneak off and pan for gold.  Today, he has found a vein of silver and is thrilled at his new wealth.

Harvey is called home to care for his ailing mother leaving Lizzie behind.  Trying to fit in, she finds people seem to be jealous of her beauty which gains her the nickname of Baby Doe as her eyes look like those of a young doe.  To support herself, she works in a haberdashery.  Men love her beauty.  When Harvey fails to return, she files for divorce which is unheard of for women.

Before long, Baby Doe and Horace Tabor fall in love.  He is now extremely wealthy and has gotten into politics.  His wife, Augusta, does not want to give him a divorce.  Will Horace and Baby Doe ever have a life together?

This is a true story that shows the many people who worked hard to mine for gold and silver.  It describes the wealth that many of them earned, along with the heartache of those who did not find fortune.  I found the politics of the time period to be fascinating.  People were willing to do just about anything to rub elbows with the wealthy and the politically successful.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
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