Colorado Mountain Women

Despite a subject matter that wouldn't normally appeal to me, this book was strongly recommended and I persevered. It really brought home the struggle for women in these hard times. Evocative, carefully written and a wonderful escape, this book is a must read.

As someone who really enjoys books about women and by women, I was interested to see this book about a region & time period previously unfamiliar to me. What a pleasure! I so enjoyed reading about the women Schmauder has chosen to bring to life. They are a broad variety of personalities and live in an array of circumstances. Some are married, some are not. Some have children, some do not. Some fit into the "traditional" stereotypical roles for women at that time, some do not. (One woman, for example, delivers supplies with the help of a team of burros; I wanted to have her job!) The one thing all these women have in common is that they are very strong, both mentally and, I imagine, physically. I can highly recommend this book without reservation. It is not only skillfully crafted and generally well-written, but it flows so nicely that it seemed like a blink of an eye has passed when I finished. I have now set it aside after the first read and am looking forward to reading it again. I agree with the previous reviewer that this would be a terrific book for a book club.

Sherie Fox Schmauder has written a series of diverse and captivating short stories (based on historical facts) about the women who lived and worked in Colorado's mining camps. Women who survived there -- physically and emlotionally -- were rare, but not perhaps as rare as other authors would have us believe. Women came on their own, or they followed their men. They brought civilization and schooling and children ... but they also brought guts and bravado and determination. Schmauder has done a wonderful job of showing us the world of women; the world behind the history book stories of mining camps. Well-worth reading, and would fuel an excellent readers' group discussion. Contemporary local color literature at its best.