The year is 1900 in gold-prospecting Alaska. Essie, a Midwestern farm girl fleeing from a stormy marriage, joins up with prospectors bound for Nome, where the golden sands teem with dreamers, schemers, and high rollers. When Leonard, Essie's stubborn and volatile husband, travels north, astonishing scenes of pursuit, sacrifice, and crucial decision rise to a conclusion that is both surprising and inevitable. Powerfully evoking a past world and the variable territory of the heart, this novel establishes Peter C. Brown as a consummate storyteller. Reading group guide included.

A potentially life-changing book, filled with profiles of people who have successfully made the transition from employee to entrepreneur. Practical and inspiring, it covers everything from getting your employer's help, finding clients, and estimating your income, to the psychological adjustments that go along with self-employment. Line drawings.