Steam Laundry

by Nicole Stellon O'Donnell

Steam Laundry is a novel in poems based on the true story of Sarah Ellen Gibson, a miner’s wife during the Klondike and Alaska gold rushes. Her journey began as she followed her husband to Dawson City, Yukon Territory in 1898. She stayed there three years as the town’s boom and her marriage burned out. In 1903, she left her husband and sons to start over in Fairbanks, Alaska with another man. Based on archival research and incorporating historical documents and photographs, the poems approach the past through the ghosts of correspondence.
 
The poems, written in the voices of Gibson, her family members, and the people who knew her, take on love, loss, failure, and desire. Some confront the drama of failed marriages, troubled family relationships, and alcoholism. Others spin the dramatic details of hunting accidents and subarctic survival into compelling stories in verse. They embody the opposing voices of an era during which men and women struggled in different, but overlapping, universes.
 
By staring at Gibson through the spectral lenses of the people around her, the documents she left behind, and the vision of a contemporary poet, the particulars of Gibson’s life are transformed into an exploration of the people history usually forgets. Steam Laundry offers the reader the chance to try on the dusty, mining-town overcoat of Gibson’s life.

 

Genres: Poetry, Historical

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Nicole Stellon O’Donnell’s new book, Everything Never Comes Your Way is forthcoming fall 2021. You Are No Longer in Trouble was the 2019 open reading winner for the Marie Alexander Series in Prose Poetry. Her first collection, Steam Laundry, won the 2013 WILLA Literary Award for Poetry. Her poems have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Passages North, Beloit Poetry Journal, Zyzzyva, and other literary journals. Her essays and commentaries have appeared in the Anchorage Daily News on the Alaska Public Radio Network. She received both an Individual Artist Award and an Artist Fellowship from the Rasmuson Foundation, as well as a Boochever Fellowship from the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation. In 2014, she served the winter writer-in-residence at Denali National Park. She is currently serving a two-year term as a Heinemann Fellow.

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not usually a big poetry reader, so this novel-in-poems was perfect for me; even more fabulous and fascinating, it's historical fiction based on the true story of Sarah Ellen Gibson, one of the first women to arrive in Fairbanks, Alaska, during the 1903 Gold Rush. O'Donnell grounds her poems in photographs, letters and other historical documents and uses them to voice the stories of Sarah, her husband Joe, their almost-adult sons, Tom and Elmer, and other people with whom the family intersected. Reading these poems, you can almost feel the cold and dirt of Gibson's life in the wild Yukon territory and Alaska; you get such a strong sense of the hard work, the hunger, and the hopes that drove people to stake a claim in this remote land. Some of the poems are so delicate, like "In the House of Our New Marriage," in which Sarah thinks, "Our marriage was so new / I could hold it in my palm / like an egg still warm / from the hen house." And others are as contemporary and fierce as the latest survival book; in "Luck Conspires against Tom and Elmer," the young men both get hurt while hunting caribou and we hear Tom: "God Damn, I tell Elmer, If we survive this, we'll be fine sourdoughs. / He replies, If we survive this, I'll be surprised and we'll be broke." All of poems are fresh, vivid and engaging, and I was drawn in so deeply, I wept at the end. These voices and stories will stay with me.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say about "Steam Laundry"? I had to go to bed and dream of water and whiskey and biting cold before I could formulate something good enough to do this book justice. This is definitely one of my favorite books of poetry. I love it for selfish and unselfish reasons. For the selfish: it manages to blend my two disciplines (my love of creative writing and my love of archives) into one significant work. This mirrors what I think when I go to work every day: there are people in archives who deserve to have their stories told...and not just in a history book, but in a creative work where their lives can be flushed out, poignant and real. For the unselfish: this is just good writing. It is so hip to write more abstract poetry that I think the narrative poem has not been given its due lately. I think Nicole Stellon O'Donnell has done an excellent job of proving the worth of the narrative poem here. This is a book of poetry I can recommend to my friends who don't normally read or enjoy poetry. It is accessible to everyone. Thank you, Ms. Stellon O'Donnell, for bringing Nellie's story to the world in such a lyrical, beautiful way.

[Bonnie Brody]

Having lived in Fairbanks for 44 years, I was delighted to read this novel told in poems and letters about Sarah Ellen Gibson, the sixth woman to arrive in Fairbanks. She came during the goldrush of 1903, following her husband Joe who had traveled north several years previously.

Known as Nellie, Ms. Gibson's life is celebrated fictionally and through actual documents. The reader learns about her husband's drinking and philandering as he tries to hit a gold streak while she is in San Francisco raising two children. Her husband, Joe, says:

I confess the saloon
has swallowed our marriage.....

I didn't think I'd be the man I've become.....

I will go after a new life
if you will follow and bring our boys.
We can bury the past under tailings.

When she finally arrives in Fairbanks, she takes in ironing, sewing and washes clothes for others.

While Mother, steam burns and sweat,
hands as raw as a plucked hen,
knots her full purse. Even poor men need washing,
and the rich, they have no time to sew.
The Old Man digs and stinks
while she makes the living.

Sarah Ellen, known as Ellie, takes care of her family, putting up with her husband's dream of hitting pay dirt and his narcissistic meanderings.

Nellie comes to life through the wonderful writing of Nicole Stellon O'Donnell who manages to capture life during the goldrush and a true sense of time and place through her beautifully evoked imagery and words.

[Erin Hollowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel in poetry chronicles one family's (and especially one woman's) experiences during the gold rush. Nicole Stellon O'Donnell's use of primary documents add authenticity, but it is her mastery of voice that keeps the reader deep in the hearts of her speakers. These are not easy folks to love, but through telling detail, carefully controlled tone, and engaging voice, O'Donnell connects their hopes and wishes with our own. A wonderful book about Alaska, and more importantly, I wonderful book of poems.

[Kory Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book I didn’t anticipate finishing, much less enjoying. It is written in poems, letters, historic pictures and receipts. A realistic story of the many challenges of the gold rush for not just the men who went, but the first women and children to accompany them. A quick and fabulous read.

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent and breathtaking, both subject and form.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I were teaching again

As a retired teacher of English and Alaska studies, I fell in love with this poem/novel that I almost didn't bother to read. The world of the gold rush days and of life, comes alive in this short cycle of poems. I think many students would learn what poetry can be from reading this book. How O'Donnell can make the gold rush era come alive with her words is fascinating.

[Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to win this collection of poetry from a Goodreads Giveaway and loved it.

This is a book of poetry that follows the lives of a historical family during the 1903 gold rush in Alaska, each poem written as letters between the various family members, especially focused on the mother, Sarah Ellen Gibson's life. The poems are beautifully written and each character's voice is distinct and easy to follow. One of the interesting aspects of this book is that because the poems are written as letters, you get the story of these character's lives told entirely during transitions. You don't see the family's direct interactions, but rather their impressions of each other during times of transition or distance. You gradually learn their struggles and personalities as told by one another.

The story is fascinating and if you're a fan of historical fiction especially stories of survival and struggle then you'd particularly enjoy this collection. I would imagine if you enjoyed Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse you would also enjoy this book. I would recommend this collection to anyone who enjoys stories of frontier women's lives and struggles, as well as anyone looking for poetry written with a clear story and historical foundation.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like poetry and history, this book blends the two perfectly. Carefully researched, this story, written in a series of linking poems, follows the life of Sarah Ellen "Nellie" Gibson. Nellie was one of the first white woman to land in Fairbanks, Alaska during the gold rush, after having followed her husband to the Klondike. When she reaches Fairbanks, she has left behind the ne'er-do-well husband and her two adult sons, and has taken up with another fellow.

The author is an amazing wordsmith. The poem where Will says goodbye to Nellie put tears in my eyes. She is able to capture both the strength and the frailties of human beings, the harshness of life on the frontier, and the experience of being a woman in a man's world.

I highly recommend, especially if you are Alaskan or have an interest in Alaska.

[Literary Mama]

Steam Laundry is part of Literary Mama's "essential reading" list.

See the full list here: http://www.literarymama.com/litreflec...

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for an English class and really enjoyed the story told through poetry. Recommended for those who love poetry.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why it took me several years to successfully latch on to this book, but I finally did, and damn. Haunting in its descriptions of relationships under strain, and making use of the white space of a life.

[Ray Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think reading this as an ebook diminished the experience so I’m trying to take that into account with my rating. Sometimes the structure of the book felt like too much of a conceipt and that took away from the emotional heft of the content. Some gorgeous turns of phrase, though.

[Lia Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fictionalized, poetic account of a real woman's life moving to AK during the gold rush. There are poems interspersed with real receipts and photos.

[Julene · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel written in poems, it worked very well for me.

[Cindykay · Rating 5 out of 5]

a good story told in poetry. Thumbs up from my book club

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, how I wanted to love this. O'Donnell tells the story of Sarah Ellen Gibson, or Nellie as she prefers, through a series of poems told from the perspective of Nellie and those around her. The poems are broken up into three parts: Nellie and her husband being separated while he searches for his fortune, Nellie and their two sons joining her husband and toughing it out in Alaska, and Nellie abandoning her family to move to Fairbanks with the man she loves. The poems are backed by research which really was the most compelling part.

This collection is part poetry and part historical fiction and unfortunately didn't fully satisfy me on either front.

My expectations of poetry may be too high--I like it to be chock full of meaning, transcendent. Even for ordinary events. Poetry should make the ordinary extraordinary. These poems occasionally got there for me, but usually the significance of the events seemed to be lost rather than enhanced by the medium.

As far as the historical fiction side goes, I needed more. I wanted to delve even further into Nellie's life: the decisions she made and why she made them. Or if I couldn't get the why (and this goes back to the poetry thing), I wanted to feel what she felt.

Maybe O'Donnell tried to do too much in too few pages. Maybe I was too excited to read this. Although I gave Steam Laundry only three stars, it almost got there for me, and I will absolutely read whatever O'Donnell puts out next. It's a good first work, and I bet her second will be even better.