For Better or Worse, There’s No Going Back on a Bride Ship
Guest Post by Elaine Dodge.
When I was a kid living in Zambia, one of my favourite TV series was Here Come the Brides. I loved the series and I think we saw every episode. It was loosely based on fact. 1858 and the discovery of gold drew thousands of miners, and hundreds of prostitutes to British Columbia, but not enough women of the ‘better’ sort. Men still vastly outnumbered the women. Reverend R.C. Lundin Brown set out to remedy the situation, not just so the men had wives but also in an attempt to bring civilization to the rugged North West. He contacted the London Female Emigration Society. Their clients, for want of a better word, were offered free passage, a possible husband and the start of a new life. Soon, a ship with thirty-six ladies arrived in Victoria and created such a stir that businesses closed down for the day.
But the Reverend Brown wasn’t the only one. When reports of immoral behavior and drunkenness in the British colony reached the ears of influential people like Charles Dickens and Florence Nightingale, they formed the Columbia Emigration Society in 1862. And in June of that year, sixty women left England on the S.S.Tynemouth. The local miners were so delighted to see them when they arrived in Victoria that the women had to have a marine escort to get them safely to an old marine barracks.
But that got me thinking. What if the owner of the ship had lied to the women? What if his intention was to sell them to the highest bidder? And what if they weren’t sold and he put them to work in his brothel? And what if a woman hadn’t volunteered to be a bride in the first place? How would I have reacted if I’d found myself in that same situation? And that’s how Harcourt’s Mountain was born.
What circumstances would cause you to accept a berth on a bride ship? How and why does Hope, my heroine in Harcourt’s Mountain, find herself on a bride ship and will she survive an adventure she didn’t ask for?
About Harcourt’s Mountain
Spring, 1867 – The western frontier of British Columbia hardly seems a likely place for romance. Filthy, terrified and confused, HOPE BOOKER is waiting to be sold off the ‘bride’ ship. LUKE HARCOURT happens upon the sale. It’s not love at first sight, but he feels compelled to save her from a life of slavery and prostitution. To allay her fears of being raped, Luke promises never to touch her. Being a man of his word, this is a pledge he quickly finds almost impossible to keep.
Battling their growing attraction to each other, they must learn to live together in the forests of the wild and almost unexplored mountains. They face white water, Indians, wolves, and dangerous men.
No longer able to deny their feelings, their ‘happy-ever-after’ is shattered when a corrupt land baron forces Luke’s hand. Enraged at the man’s actions, Luke rides into town—and disappears.
Alone and pregnant, Hope faces the prospect of the worst winter in ten years. The trauma of fighting off a hungry grizzly brings on labour, but the baby is stuck. Luke meanwhile wakes up on a ship bound for South America, captained by a revengeful sadist who plans to murder him. Will Luke survive and make it back to Hope in time?
EXCERPT
Perhaps it was the dress that caught his eye. It was silk, well cut and modest. It looked expensive. Harcourt’s eyes narrowed. This woman was no prostitute. She’d made some attempt to clean herself up and although her hair needed a wash and good brush, she had at least tried to bring some order to it. She looked intelligent and, despite the scared look in her eyes, calm. Her hands were folded in front of her. She was clearly a lady. She made no attempt to catch the eye of any man in the crowd. Instead, she looked over their heads towards the mountains. Perhaps she liked what she saw for she took a deep breath, lifted her chin and squared her shoulders.
Instinctively, Harcourt knew she would be no man’s whore. And, like the doctor had said, with the wrong man that would probably mean a killing. There were a few coarse jokes and laughter from the men.
Harcourt glanced over at Butler. He was talking emphatically to the constable. He called over the big man from the whorehouse, indicated the woman and nodded at something the brute said. Harcourt realised no one had bid for her.
He stood up on his crate. “I’ll take her.”
Everyone turned to look at him, including the woman. Butler stroked his thin moustache with his finger and thumb. He smiled. “Mr. Harcourt, you know the rules. You must bid for her. How much do you offer?”
“One hundred dollars, in gold.”
There was a gasp from the men on the wharf. Even Harcourt was shocked. He’d spoken without thinking. It was the highest bid of the day, made more spectacular by the fact that it was totally uncontested.
“Sold to Mr. Harcourt!”
ABOUT ELAINE DODGE
My first book, Harcourt’s Mountain, was launched 15 August 2013. The reviews have been marvelous! It was nominated for the 2014 RONE Awards! Right now, I’m in the early stages of a sequel to Harcourt’s Mountain.
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Times as they were, it was a chance some women were willing to take for a life–to get out of society which didn’t work for them, or perhaps there wasn’t enough of a dowry to entice, or even perhaps a misplaced (or real) rumor of ruination–it offered a fresh start, an adventure (well, she may not have realized the hardships she would encounter), or just a choice of something different than the life to which she was born.