FIREWEED is a bold epic novel about the explosive opening of the American West, and Jenna Daggett, a survivor. Young Jenna experiences tragedy and loss on her journey west, a vulgar reality at the hands of a missionary, the squalor of a muddy gold rush camp dressed as a boy, and an uncertain future in a sensual, unfamiliar land. Later, educated and refined in the grandeur of an early Spanish rancho, Jenna grows into a desirable woman while two cultures ruthlessly clash after the Mexican War, and California becomes a reckless new state with boom and bust wealth in a brutish world dominated by men. Wealthy, beautiful and passionate, Jenna carves out her destiny in raucous San Francisco, and tastes the sweetness of innocent love, only to suffer betrayal and the loss of her fortune. Rape and humiliation, riches and romance, survival and rebirth, FIREWEED is a richly-drawn and authentic saga on the scale of Gone with the Wind. It vividly portrays life in the 1800's, from hardships on the Oregon Trail, California's wild gold rush years, San Francisco's lusty heyday, and ends high in the Colorado Rockies where, once again, gold shines in men's eyes.