Yukon, Canada. 1898. As one character says early on in Beth Lewis’ rip-roaring new novel: “There are no rules here, just a destination and a dream. Every man or woman may make of themselves what they want here, should they have the will.” Many do have the will and what they dream of is gold and the striking of it. Here, three narrative voices detail the story of this particular gold rush. There is journalist Kate who, along with her dog, is journeying for hundreds of miles to the frozen wilderness of Yukon in order to find her sister who has gone missing. There is also Ellen. She carves out a meagre existence for herself while her feckless and unloved husband is trying, and largely failing, to pan gold. Finally there is Martha – Ma to everyone – the matriarch of one of the town’s most popular saloon bars and brothels. In time, the stories of all three women will intertwine in unexpected ways. With ‘The Rush’ Beth Lewis has conjured up a real rootin’ tootin’ treat; a heady brew of moonshine noir replete with dialogue and descriptors that are as hard as flint (“So many young men. New faces. Fresh and plump. Unravaged by scurvy and poor feeding. Nothing in their heads but teeth and dreams. The Yukon will take them both in time.”) The story engages right from the get-go and features memorable scenes throughout. Avalanches, enigmatic fortune-tellers, dog-fights, white-knuckle boat rides, gun-fights, floods and fires are all stirred into the mix as the three women dig for the kind of answers that they’re never going to find in the ground. RM

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