VIRGA

A sweeping debutnovel about one man’s trip into the American West during the gold rush.

Albert Picket “A.P.” Chapman comes from a long line of men who made their living on the banks of the Connecticut River. Although he began his training in shipbuilding, he quickly changed careers and became a warehouse clerk. He’s good at his job but finds himself aching to do something bigger. In 1848, he and his friend Jim Kent book passage to San Francisco to become gold miners in California. A.P.’s wife, Carrie, is left behind to take care of their children, and her parents, by herself. One day, A.P. sees a valley that seems like it’s “calling” to him. He decides to build a ranch there, believing that there’s more economic opportunity in this place than in nearly fruitless prospecting. Soon, he begins building cabins and working on an emigrant road in what he and his friends call Sierra Valley, a locale that he believes will “feed the entire region.” Meanwhile, Carrie is growing more frustrated and unsure of how she and her children fit into A.P.’s dreams, and she wonders if she should join her husband in California. Purdom presents a lengthy but comprehensive tale that’s ideal for fans of thorough, unhurried storytelling. His prose is replete with vivid imagery, which is evident right from the strong, scene-setting opening in which a Pequot boy is shot dead by a soldier in Connecticut: “It is better that the boy can no longer see….It is better that he can no longer hear ripening corn burning in the fields.” A.P.’s saga is presented slowly, with Purdom taking time to detail his fictional world; indeed, the characters don’t even reach California until nearly 100 pages in. Still, the worldbuilding is precise and offers historical context, although some moments feel needlessly drawn out or repetitive. Overall, though, Purdom’s story is rich and evocative, highlighting humankind’s desire for possibility: “It is not at all about the gold, the riches, but about reaching.”

A lengthy work of historical fiction that often successfully combines bold imagery and a slow-burning plot.