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Shadow of the Moon
July 1878, and the West is teeming with astronomers eager to observe a total solar eclipse. Cora and four other female astronomy students have accompanied Professor Maria Mitchell to Colorado for the event, but their chances of seeing it are threatened when a railway dispute forces them to entrust their precious telescopes to a young freight hauler’s wagon.
Nolan Carter is determined to get his cargo and passengers to their destination, but as one thing after another goes wrong, he despairs of reaching Denver in time. Yet he could happily spend more time with the surprising Cora, who accompanies the telescopes while her companions take the train.
Meanwhile, overhead, the celestial clock—indifferent to worldly dangers, delays, or distractions—is ticking.
Nolan Carter is determined to get his cargo and passengers to their destination, but as one thing after another goes wrong, he despairs of reaching Denver in time. Yet he could happily spend more time with the surprising Cora, who accompanies the telescopes while her companions take the train.
Meanwhile, overhead, the celestial clock—indifferent to worldly dangers, delays, or distractions—is ticking.
271 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 1, 2023
1 person is currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Edward McSweegan
5 books3 followersMy debut historical novel, Shadow of the Moon, was published by Wild Rose Press (WRP) in March 2023. My second novel, The Fever Hut, was published by Fireship Press in February 2024, and a third novel, The Cottage Industry, was published by WRP in June 2024.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 3, 2023
"I wasn't a soldier or a sheriff. I hauled freight and scribbled in a notebook." The job, hauling freight up and down the road, linking Denver to Pueblo and the places in between...kept wagon freighters and stagecoach operators busy in 1878. The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (DRG) and the Atkinson, Topeka and Santa Fe (AT &SF) were fighting "over tracks and right-of-ways". This financial and geographic war would impact the journey of the Vassar Astronomers, a group of women traveling to Denver to view the 1878 solar eclipse.
This factual event, set within a historical fiction framework, was a well researched, fascinating read. Vassar College Professor Maria Mitchell headed the group "Our party had three telescopes and one chronometer." Despite the fact that train tickets from Boston to Denver had been paid in full, the DRG would not honor a transfer of tickets, baggage and freight from the AT&SF. Unable to cover the costs of all new tickets, Mitchell would travel with two of her students and equipment, including the lenses and chronometer, while Cora Harrison and Elizabeth Abbot would carefully pack the three long wooden cases containing the telescopes. Placed on padded canvas tarps in a wagon bed, the telescopes would be transported by a freight company, with Cora and Elizabeth accompanying the precious cargo on the journey of one hundred twenty miles.
Nolan Carter, one of the two freight drivers, a recent arrival from Chicago, was determined to see the rugged west before its openness was replaced by travelers wishing to settle the untamed country. He had taken on this freight job after having ingested more than enough dirt as a cattle drover. He wondered why a girl with a "fancy education [would travel] almost two thousand miles to watch a three-minute eclipse." "This was a unique moment in time...it fell apart in a commonplace fashion, leading to events no one could have imagined."
The eclipse would occur on Monday afternoon, July 29 At 2:19 PM. Newspapers stated that "our little part of the world would go dark for two-and-a half minutes in the middle of a summer day." It was imperative that Nolan deliver Cora, Elizabeth and the telescopes. It was important for the women of the Vassar Astronomy Group "to be seen as competent, capable astronomers with our equipment...It's important for women everywhere." Success would counter the argument that a woman's place was in the home, a rationale for keeping women out of university and medical schools. Newspapers set to cover the solar eclipse, as views and documented by these women, might encourage others to pursue their dreams.
No one expected the freight travelers to get separated, creating a race against time. A taste of the rough and tumble, gun toting Old West with a sprinkle of romance create just the right blend of adventure and suspense amid scientific discovery. A highly recommended read!
This factual event, set within a historical fiction framework, was a well researched, fascinating read. Vassar College Professor Maria Mitchell headed the group "Our party had three telescopes and one chronometer." Despite the fact that train tickets from Boston to Denver had been paid in full, the DRG would not honor a transfer of tickets, baggage and freight from the AT&SF. Unable to cover the costs of all new tickets, Mitchell would travel with two of her students and equipment, including the lenses and chronometer, while Cora Harrison and Elizabeth Abbot would carefully pack the three long wooden cases containing the telescopes. Placed on padded canvas tarps in a wagon bed, the telescopes would be transported by a freight company, with Cora and Elizabeth accompanying the precious cargo on the journey of one hundred twenty miles.
Nolan Carter, one of the two freight drivers, a recent arrival from Chicago, was determined to see the rugged west before its openness was replaced by travelers wishing to settle the untamed country. He had taken on this freight job after having ingested more than enough dirt as a cattle drover. He wondered why a girl with a "fancy education [would travel] almost two thousand miles to watch a three-minute eclipse." "This was a unique moment in time...it fell apart in a commonplace fashion, leading to events no one could have imagined."
The eclipse would occur on Monday afternoon, July 29 At 2:19 PM. Newspapers stated that "our little part of the world would go dark for two-and-a half minutes in the middle of a summer day." It was imperative that Nolan deliver Cora, Elizabeth and the telescopes. It was important for the women of the Vassar Astronomy Group "to be seen as competent, capable astronomers with our equipment...It's important for women everywhere." Success would counter the argument that a woman's place was in the home, a rationale for keeping women out of university and medical schools. Newspapers set to cover the solar eclipse, as views and documented by these women, might encourage others to pursue their dreams.
No one expected the freight travelers to get separated, creating a race against time. A taste of the rough and tumble, gun toting Old West with a sprinkle of romance create just the right blend of adventure and suspense amid scientific discovery. A highly recommended read!
April 18, 2025
Interesting to read about a factual event set into a historical fiction
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews