Everything that mattered to Frances Moriarty was left behind in famine-ravaged Ireland, including the love of her life. Beset with grief and guilt, she is scraping out a shadowy existence as a New York shoeshine boy when word spreads like wildfire: gold nuggets line the riverbeds of California.

Eager to stake a claim, Frances boldly sets out on the overland trek to California's gold fields, praying that her journey will lead her to riches-and a place a woman like her can call her own.

Rich with historic detail and steeped in the secret passion of women-loving-women, Hilary McCollum's debut novel is an epic story of love lost and found in a daring life.