Meet Colorado Royalty in Rebecca Rosenberg’s ‘Gold Digger’ [REVIEW]

Baby Doe Tabor, circa 1883 (Photo Public Domain)

A young widow. A married prospector. A betrayed wife. When their paths cross in rugged Colorado during the mining boom, they spark a sensational, scandalous story that rocks the state to its bedrock. Discover the real-life dynasty that would make binge-worthy television in today’s reality-obsessed culture. Read Rebecca Rosenberg’s new novel, Gold Digger: The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor.

Lionheart Publishing

Elizabeth Doe grew up in an affluent family. But when a tragic fire destroys her home and family business, she quickly realizes she doesn’t like being poor. At 20, she marries a banker’s son and moves to Colorado to prospect a gold mine. She soon wins over the miners with her ethereal beauty, and they give her the moniker, “Baby Doe,” a name which sticks with her for the rest of her life. What doesn’t last, however, is her marriage, and soon she finds herself abandoned, pregnant, and running the family mine alone.

Feisty, determined, fashionable, and lovely, many consider her a gold digger as she flirts her way through Colorado society. But all that ends when she meets Silver King Horace Tabor, the wealthiest man in Colorado. Now tongues wag for a different reason as gossip spreads like wildfire. After all, Horace is 25 years Baby Doe’s senior. (He even has a son a year older than Baby Doe is!) Still, Horace is taken with her beauty—despite his decades-long marriage to his wife, Augusta—and he soon begins a love affair with the blue-eyed vamp, an affair fueled by both passion and devotion.

But what does the future hold for Horace, Augusta, and Baby Doe? Who will Horace ultimately choose—and at what cost? Find out in Gold Digger, a tale rife with political ambitions, extravagant wealth, clandestine affairs and bitter betrayal.

After having read Rosenberg’s freshman novel, The Secret Life of Mrs. London, I was eager to devour her sophomore endeavor, Gold Digger. Her first book focused on the love triangle between Harry Houdini, Jack and Charmian London, people who were previously on my radar. With Gold Digger, however, she shifts her focus to historical figures I’ve never heard of before, but whose private lives and loves are equally fascinating.

As I read this gripping novel, I couldn’t help but wish Aaron Spelling were still alive, because this turbulent tale would make a great nighttime soap, even if it is set in the late 1800s! It is juicy and titillating, and is populated with phenomenal, intriguing characters who are just as vibrant today as they were back then.

In many ways, it is easy to determine where these characters’ lives will end up, but perhaps that is the best part of this story. It is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. You see the explosion before it ever transpires, and yet the action is so compelling we can’t tear our eyes away and have to find out if our greatest fears will prove true.

Whether you’re a history buff who loves discovering nuggets of history you’ve never heard about before or simply revel in salacious tales which keep you turning pages and are as addictive as a huge tub of hot buttered popcorn, you’re bound to enjoy stepping back in time and meeting these members of Colorado royalty.

Rebecca Rosenberg

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

California native Rebecca Rosenberg lives on a lavender farm with her family in Sonoma, the Valley of the Moon, where she and her husband own and operate the largest lavender-product company in America.

A longtime student of Jack London’s work and an avid fan of his daring wife, Charmian, Rosenberg is a graduate of the Standford Writing Certificate Program. The Secret Life of Mrs. London is her debut novel, following her non-fiction, Lavender Fields of America.

To find out more, visit Rebecca at her home on the Web, Rebecca-Rosenberg.com. You may also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter, Instagram, BookBub, Amazon, and Goodreads.

GOLD DIGGER: THE REMARKABLE BABY DOE TABOR
By Rebecca Rosenberg
318 pp. Lionheart Publishing. $15.95

Purchase Gold Digger at one of these fine online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, IndieBound, and Powell’s.

Gold Digger is brought to you in association with TLC Book Tours.

Want to find out more about the Tabors? Watch the this episode of PBS’s “Colorado Experience.”