Meet 12 year old Carissa Beaumont of Vali Benson’s historical novel Blood and Silver. She’s not exactly living a carefree childhood. After the death of her father and brother, Carissa’s mother, Lisette, can only support her baby girl by working as a lady of ill-repute at a brothel. And not only that, she’s addicted to the drug laudanum.
As Blood and Silver begins, Carissa and her mother have moved to Tombstone, Arizona. It’s 1880, and Tombstone is booming. Silver has been discovered. People are coming to town to earn their fortunes. Miss Lucille, Lisette’s madam, brings her girls to a brothel in Tombstone knowing they’ll bring in the local men and make her lots of money.
Miss Lucille is evil and conniving. And she’s responsible for getting Lisette hooked on laudanum.
Carissa, no fool, recognizes Miss Lucille is up to no good. So she makes sure she finds a doctor to help her mother in her recovery.
The doctor informs Carissa she can help her mother by meeting China Mary, an immigrant from China, who lives in Hoptown.
At first Carissa is intimidated by China Mary, but soon she finds the woman a powerful ally.
Through China Mary makes friends with the other Chinese immigrants, including a young girl named Mai Lin. Carissa also managesges to get a job at the fancy Grand Hotel. She proves to be a worthy employee.
Carissa is brave and smart. And she goes to great lengths to improve her and her mother’s lives. And when she faces disaster, she shows her mettle. Nothing will stop her.
I found Blood and Silver to be a compelling tale. The characters are richly drawn and Ms Benson definitely did her research because the details of that time ring true.
But what really struck me about Blood and Silver is how bad ass Carissa is. She’s a young girl of depth and fortitude. And I hope there is another book about her in the future.
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