Jubilee Trail by Gwen Bristow

I remember the first time I read this book. I can see clearly in my memory our small local library in Port Hueneme, CA: the stacks to the left were the adult fiction. My mother led me over to the far wall and browsed until she found this book. She pulled it off the top shelf and said, "I think this is a book you will like." She was right. I liked it so much I read it over and over. My sister read it over and over.

Fast forward several years. The book is now out of print. My mother hunted down a copy for both me and my sister in a used book store in Kirkland, Washington. It was a Christmas gift, and I think she had to pay a pretty penny for those books.

Last Christmas Audrey asked for a Gwen Bristow book. I began searching my usual used book websites. Lo and behold, there it was, new. They have a new printing of several of Bristow's books (by the way, I've loved every book of hers I've ever read). I bought each book they've reprinted. Now I can loan out this copy, and keep the copy my mom gave me safe and sound. My only criticism of the new printing is that it looks like they had a contest to find the ugliest cover ever, and that is the one they put on the book. Do not judge this book by its cover!

This is a fun romantic historical novel. Garnet Cameron is raised in the privileged part of New York city. The book begins in 1840. Garnet meets Oliver Hale, a trader who has come to New York from California. They marry, and Garnet leaves New York to travel to California with her new husband. There is a lot of California history in the book, and I loved that when I first read the book, living in California as I did. Many adventures and mis-adventures occur. I'll leave it at that.

I loved reading it once again.