"Volmer's distinctive, beautifully written debut is set in the California gold rush country in the mid-19th century...[her] prose is taut and restrained, moving the story along at a healthy clip as her hardscrabble characters rumble and stumble through their dusty domain. Volmer's found a fat vein of gold in some heavily mined territory."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review "Volmer paints a moving portrait of outcasts and nonconformists who build their own community....evocative historical background and thoughtful social observation make this a promising debut."—Kirkus Reviews | "Any illusions about the glamour of digging for gold are totally shattered by Mary Volmer's 'Crown of Dust,' a grim and carefully researched book about the California gold rush.... Volmer, in her remarkable first novel, has re-created the reality of an era that few can even visualize now."—Washington Times "Volmer's colorful debut is in many ways a typical Western, heavy on action and subplots involving miners, unions, and strikes....fresh and different..."—Library Journal "[Volmer] captures the authenticity of place and the spirit of the period through the greed, exhilaration, disappointment and hope of the characters."—Booklist |
