Golden Dreams

California Pioneer #2

by Elaine L. Schulte

She had escaped a fate worse than death, but would her ship now make it around the Horn to the unsettled West?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Christian, Romance, Christian Fiction, Historical, Fiction

253 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1989

About the author

Today, you might find Elaine Schulte at the gym, observing from the sidelines as young gymnasts take their first tumbles on the balance beam. Tomorrow, she might be sitting a few rows from a stage, watching as kids audition for Christian theater.

When you find Schulte, you'll notice she's holding a pen in one hand and a notebook in the other. Whatever kind of book she's writing whether historical fiction, a book for preteens, or an adult novel she feels that research is necessary to create an accurate, relevant story. "I do a lot more research than you'd think," says the author of 27 novels.

Reviews

[Andrea Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story blows me away every time. I read it three or four times back to back (along with its predecessor, The Journey West) when I was in my teens, and I got something different from it each of those times. Now that I’m in my thirties, I adore it just as much. My appreciation for these stories (and the other two in The California Pioneer Quartet, Eternal Passage and With Wings as Eagles) has grown too, because these are clean-fiction books in a not-so-clean-fiction era. I like that this book (and its series mates) digs deep and presents raw emotions and flawed characters yet also shows realistic, true-to-the-Bible faith and how to battle temptation in a fallen world. This throwback quartet makes me think deeper and inspires me to dig deeper into the Word of God. It also nudges me to keep excavating my own emotions and wounds when I write, because I want my books to have the same impact on readers as this set of books has on me.

I recently discovered that there were originally six stories published in the “California Pioneer” series but that Guideposts only compiled the first four of them into two 2-in-1 books, narrowing it to “The California Pioneer Quartet” series. I stumbled upon a copy of book #6, Mercies So Tender, at Half Price books last year (2019), and as soon as I have book money again, I’ll be looking for book #5, Peace Like a River, to complete my collection. Once I have the entire series in hand, I think a reread is bound to happen… adding on a first-time read of those latter two books.

Have you read this series yet?

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good book

[Debby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continues the tale - this story is about the Abby of #1's best friend Rose Wilmington. Rose's fiance was killed in a horse accident just days before their marriage. Her mother is dead and her father has left her in VA while he goes to CA to recoup his fortune. Rose is very devout as was her fiance William. Willard, his twin, is not and he is trying to pressure Rose into marriage three years later. She is rescued by Abby's brother-in-law Joshua, who arranges for her to travel to CA on Clipper ship from Boston with him. They fall in love but part because he is not a "believer". She locates her father in a mining area - the gold rush has just begun. He has also been converted and they work hard to bring the miners Christianity. Eventually Joshua comes around and they become engaged. Very Bible oriented - lots of scriptural passages.

[Bev Walkling · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book was written with the sole purpose of trying to convert people. I have not read any other books in the series. Part of the story focused on how a lust for gold infected men back in the early days in California. There was a very colonial feel to some of the attitudes expressed about the early American Thanksgiving and it deeply saddened me in how many trees were destroyed in the efforts to find gold.

[Arnetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a sequel and my only problem with it was there was some predictability in the storyline. The settings are totally different, but there is a same basic plot line and too many similarities to really keep me wondering what would happen next. Otherwise, great characters with a strong Christian perspective to the story.

[Dorothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book in this series is about Abby's best friend Rose. Rose's fiancé has been killed in an accident and now his twin is trying to force Rose to marry him. The only problem is he has a bad reputation, so she decides to travel to California to start her life over.

[Linda Russo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Christian fiction

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty much the same story as the first one, woth different characters

[Yvonne Bless · Rating 5 out of 5]

being equally yoked as a christian matters a lot.

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, this was in one of my piles of books. Not sure how it ended up there, but I try to read everything that's in my pile before deciding whether or not to keep it. Definitely not a keeper: I don't like my books to make me feel like an inferior person because I don't walk around going, "Praise Jesus! He hath given me another paper cut! The Lord works in mysterious ways!" I also read the first book of this quartet, because I'm all OCD like that, but I won't be continuing on. I can only take so much of Jesus at one go. Maybe this means I'll be going to hell, but at least until then, my misery will lack meaning. I find that infinitely preferable to being miserable because that's how Jesus wants things to be.

[Cws]

JF-YA Sch

[Karla · Rating 2 out of 5]

While visiting my parents, my mom gave me this book that was mine from when I was a teen, so I reread it. Not great.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

great!

[Partridge Public]

Schulte, Elaine PB