Ragtown

by Kelly Stone Gamble

1st Place Historical Fiction in the Literary Global Book Awards

Helen Carter lives in the back seat of her father’s Model T in the harsh Nevada desert, surrounded by thousands of desperate souls trying to endure the hardships of the Great Depression. When her father dies while working on the Hoover Dam diversion tunnels, she finds herself alone. In this unforgiving landscape where marriage, prostitution, and starvation seem to be her only viable choices, Helen is determined to defy society's expectations of a young woman and create her own American dream. She relies on her resourcefulness to survive but soon realizes she can't go it alone.

Ezra Deal, a young dam worker, brought his sister to Nevada in search of the father of her child, only to have the man reject her. Tragically, both his sister and the baby pass away during childbirth, leaving Ezra with a profound sense of guilt. Determined to distance himself from any further responsibilities, he focuses on his job and locating the man who callously denied his sister. But when he learns that his friend Helen is running from not only the law but also a Las Vegas gangster, he must decide between his independent lifestyle and helping her.

As Helen and Ezra grow closer and become more invested in the diversion of the Colorado River from its course, their lives parallel this monumental change. Ezra can picture building a life with Helen, but she has other ideas. With the help of a thirteen-year-old runaway, a few prostitutes, a dead desperado, and Ezra, Helen embarks on a journey to live life on her terms.

Incorporating actual dramatic events gleaned from the oral histories of the dam workers, Ragtown highlights a time in American history when ordinary men and women overcame the challenges of the Great Depression and thrived.

508 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 12, 2023

About the author

As a reader, my tastes are very diverse. I have a passion for the classics and love a good adventure. As a writer, I enjoy creating memorable characters that may be a bit eccentric, but experience life on their own terms.

I am the author of Ragtown, the USA Today Bestseller They Call Me Crazy, Call Me Daddy, and Call Me Cass. My work has appeared in a variety of publications including Red Earth Review, Tower Journal, Family Digest and Chicken Soup for the Soul.

My fiction has won awards from Pacific Northwest Writers Association, Writers Weekly, Writers Courtyard, Women on Writing and the Ground Zero Literary Project.

I teach communications, humanities and literature at Southeastern Oklahoma State University and make my home in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Reviews

[Lauren Garlitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started this book around 6am on 11/13 and finished around 1am on 11/14. Basically, any free time I had I was reading. This book had me from start to finish. I absolutely loved it. Kelly Stone Gamble stirred up emotions while reading. I cheered with the characters for accomplishments and successes; I got mad with them, sad with them. I may not have been completely satisfied with the ending, but at the same time I’m glad it happened that way. It was exactly what was needed and Helen stayed true to herself. Though they sometimes only reiterated what happened in the chapter I really enjoyed the author’s notes at the end of each chapter. Being able to see some of her inspiration and read some factual tidbits was interesting.

I was lucky enough to receive an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Sharon Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a real page turner, although not my normal read, I found myself engrossed in this book.
I loved the main characters Helen and Ezra, and I had high hopes for them as a couple,
It was also a bit of a history lesson, I never knew the Colorado River was diverted, or anything about the Hoover Dam, it was extremely interesting and hard to put down
100% recommend this book

[Cheryl Binkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I have read several other historical novels set in this time period and general location. This was by far the most accurate and interesting of them all. The characters were very interesting and kept my curiosity throughout the entire story.

[Erin Anfinson-pirani · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story takes place in Ragtown during the Great Depression Era. Told in first person perspective, split between two people, Helen Carter and Ezra Deal. Each with their own rendition of the construction of the Hoover Dam. Shanty towns, such as Ragtown pop up around the dam, due to the influx of men searching for jobs. Leaving the populous with nothing but scraps to build their homes in.
However, our heroine Helen Carter, I would consider luckier than most. Since she is able to read and write, this leaves her with an advantage.

Trigger Warning.

The story contains material that may be sensitive to some readers. Child loss and a small amount of forceful behavior is depicted. Read at your own discretion.
Since the story takes place in the nineteen-thirties Neveda. The tone of the story is quite melancholy. Many inhabitants of Ragtown have next to nothing. Their living conditions, including working conditions-- are deplorable to say the least. Which Ezra witnesses firsthand. Death can sneak up upon a person if not cautious, which seems like an everyday occurrence on the job site.

It's a slow-paced story, Helen tells us about her life, prior to living in Ragtown. When tragedy strikes, Helen's world is turned upside down. Ergo, leading her to make some tough decisions. This includes her own well-being, as well as financial situation. Which leads her to making a big mistake, landing her in a heap of trouble. Yet, through it all, our heroine finds a way through with the help of some friends.
To say this, there is a colorful cast of friends. Each with their own personalities. Some pleasant, and some not so pleasant. The author did a wonderful job on that level, since they all played a part in the story for the main character(s).
I liked this story more than I thought it would. I was skeptical at first, since the beginning of the book was so disheartening. And life after I consider, are heartbreaking. But the more I read, the more of the characters’ personalities unfolded.
For example, I like the fact that when Helen’s world changes, she doesn’t default to the easy route-- like so many other women have done in her particular situations. She rises through adversity, thus making her own way, giving her an edge, which I really love.
Although I wish that there would be more romance, I understand that some men are not Casanova’s. Especially since Eza is quite hot & cold with his own feelings towards Helen in the beginning. Plus, one cannot really woo a lady in a shanty town.

To be fair, he is dealt with most of the hardships throughout the journey, so it makes things difficult to come to terms with his own emotions. Then Helen felt flighty towards the middle-end. I wish there was more definite, solid romance between them since they both have been through so much.
The chapters are short. Between 3-5 pages long, yet quite layered, and detailed. It’s great story if you want to do a small amount of reading or go for a longer reading streak. So, take the book with a grain of salt. I would also like to see more showing. I feel the author put more telling into the story, rather than showing us how the characters felt.
In my own opinion, I would consider this a work of Historical Fiction. With romance elements sprinkled in. So take the book with a grain of salt. I give Kelley Stone Gamble four- stars. Simply because of the tragedies, but quite detail oriented which ties to story together beautifully. I recommend this book if you are into historical reading.

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

It would be reasonable to view this book as two, maybe three, books in one. Although it surprises me a bit to realize, I liked them all.

The first book is the main story that you’d expect from the book’s description. It’s historical fiction with what could be viewed as two protagonists. The story takes place in the early part of the Great Depression. Jobs are hard to come by and those that are available often have some downsides. Our protagonists, Helen and Ezra, are both living with their families in an area people call Ragtown, near the place where the Hoover Dam is being built. Various factors including deaths in their families and struggles to make ends meet make for an engaging story as both Helen and Ezra’s stories progress. I found this story engaging as it helped drive home how tough things were during that time for a large percentage (dare I say majority) of people without many good ways to improve their lot in life. Once I was introduced to Helen and Ezra I had to find out how things turned out for them.

The main story makes for a decent sized novel by itself. However, at the end of each chapter is a section labeled “Author Note.” Someone could just skip these and they would get the historical fiction story they came for and should be happy with it. But if you want the other two books I mentioned, then read the author notes. These have contents that fall into one of two categories. The majority of them talk about the author’s research into the history of the time and place the story takes place. It expands a bit on some of the specific things mentioned in the story and gives them some historical context. The third book is the remainder of the author notes. These talk a bit about the writing process and give a bit of a glimpse into the writing process. At times in the past I’ve compared getting these kinds of glimpses into the writing process to being the reader’s equivalent of “watching the sausage being made,” but for some reason these notes didn’t strike me that way. I instead found them interesting.

I thought Ragtown was an excellent story. I found the historical part of it interesting, but if that doesn’t appeal to you, skip the author notes and you’ll still be left with an engaging story with characters you’ll like and be pulling for in a story world that’s a nice change of pace.

**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **

[Claire Matturro · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, let me start with the punchline: Ragtown by USA Today Best Selling Kelly Stone Gamble, is an excellent, riveting historical novel, well researched and well written, with a resilient, brave protagonist one can cheer for, cry for, and celebrate. The plot is full of suspense and danger, the descriptions are full-force and evocative, and the characters are fully drawn and engaging. The book puts the readers right into the scenes, making the story come alive.

Ragtown is set in the Great Depression and focuses on seventeen-year-old Helen Carter. Though poor, Helen has dreams of being a photographer, but unfortunately these aspirations are inconsistent with her sparse and challenging life. She is living in the back seat of her father’s Model T in the harsh Nevada desert, trapped with thousands of others enduring the harsh, hungry times of the Great Depression. Her father works on constructing the Hoover Dam diversion tunnels, but when he dies, she finds herself alone without protection or income. She quickly becomes desperate. In the days before any governmental safety nets, actual starvation raises its ugly, frightening head and her limited options go from bad to worse. It will take all her resourcefulness, and the help of a few other weary folks, to survive, let alone achieve anything like her dream. The novel, while fictional, incorporates actual dramatic events that the author learned from studying the oral histories of the dam workers, and highlights a difficult time when ordinary men and women struggled to overcome the cruel circumstances of the Great Depression.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the story, the history and the writing. This book is a must for fans of historical fiction or anyone who loves a good tale. “Ragtown” by Kelly Stone Gamble is an excellent historically accurate novel detailing a young woman’s struggle during the building of the Hoover Dam in the early 1930s. The heroine, Helen, lives among the dam workers and their families in one of the work camps, or Hoovervilles as they were called. When tragedy strikes, she must learn to survive on her own during the Great Depression, when jobs were scarce and predominantly reserved for men, so that poor women had to find a man, legally or otherwise, to survive. Will she turn to her crush and friend, Ezra, who may or may not be interested? Will she accept the proposal of a man she doesn’t care for but who promises to take care of her? Or will she turn to prostitution to survive? As a strong, independent-minded young adult, all options leave her forlorn and angry.
The lives of the men and their families along with the first stage of the building of the dam are thoroughly, accurately, and entertainingly detailed, while the desert and the mountains surrounding the area come to life in vivid, gorgeous detail. Kelly Stone Gamble captures Helen and company's excitement, determination, frustration, and misery while documenting a monumental event in American History.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a fan of historical fiction novels for many years. Some are better than others, but this one did not disappoint. The characters are complicated and don’t always make the choices you want them to make, but that’s part of the draw of this book—the characters are real in the midst of a tumultuous time in American history. Although most people would see the main characters to be Ezra and Helen, I saw the dam project itself, along with the river and the desert as characters as well. I gained a new appreciation for all of them as I read. And the story has a full cast of supporting characters who could form the basis of novels of their own. Maybe they will?

One of the unique aspects of this book is the footnotes that Kelly has added at the end of each chapter. She has anticipated questions the reader may have and answered them ahead of the book club meetings that will be held to discuss this book. She has also added additional insights from her extensive research on the area and the building of Hoover Dam, including the oral histories where you find the sweet tidbits that don’t make it to the formal histories. Kelly says this book took 20 years to be written, but I’m not at all sure the story is finished. I, for one, hope not.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I began reading this book, I knew almost nothing about the Hoover Dam, so I approached the story first with a curiosity for the historical setting of the dam's construction. The complexity of the characters, especially protagonist Helen, gripped me from the opening chapter, and the suspense of her situation kept me turning the pages. Even after reading approximately the first third, which is so full of heartbreak that it brought me close to tears, I couldn't put down this novel. As people come and go in Helen's life, her strength and determination, her love and knowledge of the Nevada desert, and her loyalty to good friends and family never wavers. Doing what's best for everyone, herself included, becomes her aim, especially in the book's second half. No spoilers, but I have to say that her story makes me deeply grateful that I, a single woman, am living today, in 2023, and not in 1931 and '32, when women had few choices. As one of the characters says, they were survivors.

[Daniel Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book drew me right in. I tend to take things like the building of a dam for granted and never give it a second thought, but Gamble's blend of history with real people and fictionalized versions of themselves and their families kept me up late for days. Helen's father brought her to the dam project looking for work, but her struggles as a young, single woman approaching adulthood and the realities of life for the workers living in tent cities in the desert were far more fascinating than I could have expected. Stone's writing is exceptional as always as she creates believable, yet often quirky characters whose struggles demand the reader's empathy and leave us begging for more. I recommend this book highly to anyone with an interest in the Hoover Dam, historical fiction, or just an engrossingly good read.

[Brandy L Vaughn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ragtown is a uniquely crafted historical fiction set in the time period during the building of the Hoover Dam in Nevada. The characters as well as the setting come to life on the page. Kelly offers great insights into the social/economic instability of the Great Depression period. The author’s notes after each chapter offered wonderful insights on the history behind the story. Once I started reading I couldn't put the book down! My favorite character was Queho. If you love engaging stories and historical fiction, this book is for you! I have read other work by this author and Ragtown doesn't disappoint!

[Polly Krize · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Life during the Great Depression is more than hard for Helen Carter, living in her family car in the Nevada desert. Finding herself alone, she must rely on all her wits to survive. Meeting Ezra, a dam worker, leads to their finding themselves attracted to each other but Helen has her own ideas of what her life should be.