"The Silver Baron's Wife" by Donna Baier Stein, was an interesting, inspiring novel about a woman's struggles and choices, set in the early 1900's, her life's events and her perseverance and strong mind, shaping and propelling her through difficult times, when women where not typically so bold or confident. A great "rags-to-riches" tale. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

The blurb caught my attention but after that I lost my interest and didn't read this book. Maybe next time.

Years ago I read the non-fiction book "Silver Dollar: The Story of the Tabors" by David Karsner. Being a Tabor myself, I find reading about my family's (albeit distant) history fascinating. When I saw this book about Horace's wife, I was excited to read it. And was not disappointed.
Told in first person perspective, this novel provides a view into the life of a complex woman who lived before her time. Though shunned by society for her personal life, she lived a life of extravagance during her early years married to Horace Tabor, a silver mining baron. Then through a series of tragic events, lost it all in the end.
Well researched, this expertly written account blends the facts into an intriguing historical dramatization of Baby Doe's scandalous life.
*Thank you NetGalley, Serving House Books, and Donna Baier Stein for giving me this book to review. It was excellent.

Lizzie Tabor was no shrinking violet despite being born in the 1850s. She did not follow the conventions of the day. When her husband sank into despondency, drinking and drugs refusing to work or make something of their lives, she herself did the unthinkable. She got into the mines with the men working to salvage whatever she could to make a life for herself.

When Harvey turned out to be a total disappointment, she divorced him. That too was unheard of and got her ostracized from society almost completely. When she remarried a wealthy silver baron this time she gained further notoriety (the priest refused to sign the marriage certificate despite formalising the marriage)and battled it alone, with the loving support of her husband.

When their world of wealth came crashing down, she lost everything she had. She also had two daughters who were spoilt and who could not and would not accept the riches to rags story their life had become. She was alone once more when her husband died. And she remained alone, almost forgotton by all especially her daughters for thirty five years until she died.

A story of a courageous woman, who defied convention and based on a real life story. Sad but true one.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book. All views are my own and given in exchange for an electronic ARC. This review is posted on Netgalley and Goodreads.

This book, The Silver Baron's Wife, tells the story of a "rags-to-riches-to-rags" life of Baby Doe Tabor. She had two scandalous marriages, one which to a silver baron worth $24 million dollars. She had an interesting life full of entertainment, but also faced shunning by society. The book portrays the main character as an independent woman who "bucked all social expectations by working where 19th century women didn't work," "becoming the key figure in the key figure in one of the West's most scandalous love triangles." She also faced downfalls, especially after the stock market crash.

While this work is fictional, it is based on writing / journals of the main character IRL. I will admit -- the cover doesn't blow me away, the title doesn't excite me. There isn't anything that makes me think this book would be fun to read. However! The writing style is informative and rich. While this is historical fiction, I think the author did a good job of interweaving facts and fiction. I think that the undertaking of telling the story of a character who isn't famous is difficult, but this book did it well. I would suggest this book only to those interested in historical fiction and tales of women from the recent past.

I really love when a work of historical fiction makes me want to learn more about the real life characters. This is exactly what happened with The Silver Baron's Wife. Look for my full review and a deep dive into the history of the book coming soon on my blog - BooksTeaHealthyMe.home.blog

Thank you to NetGalley and Books Forward for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Silver Baron’s Wife traces the rags-to-riches-to-rags story of Lizzie McCourt, better known as Baby Doe Tabor.

Lizzie is a force to be reckoned with, she survived two scandalous marriages one to a philandering opium addict and another to a Senator and silver baron worth more than $24 million in the late 19th Century. She bucked all social conventions at the time and got divorced and then married the Silver Baron with whom she was having an affair. She lived the last 35 years of her life in poverty in a shack at the Matchless Mine in Leadville.

This is a work of fiction, but the author had access to Baby Doe’s journal where she wrote her dreams. She was known as the most hated woman in the West for her affair and marriage to Tabor, but now we get the gift of hearing her side of the story.

I enjoyed reading this imagining of what Baby Doe’s life was like including the difficult decisions she needed to make as a woman on her own in the West. When she was wealthy she was shunned by society and when she was poor she decided to live out her life in a shack. My heart broke for Baby Doe as she spent her last days alone in the cold and isolated shack at the Matchless Mine.

This is a compelling and informative imagining of the Life of Baby Doe Tabor. I highly recommend it to fans of Biographical Fiction and to anyone interested in Western History of the United States.

The Silver Baron's Wife is about the life of Baby Doe. I had never heard of her prior to reading this book and found her life fascinating. She was a woman ahead of her time. I would have liked to have understood the years better as the book went on (knowing what year i was in at the time the chapter was taking place) but it has compelled me to dig into her further and see what happened to her daughters. very enjoyable book!

This is a beautiful story of a young woman's resilience through a terrible first marriage and being left with practically no money in Colorado after moving there from Wisconsin with her husband with a share in a silver mine. Lizzie decides to stick it out in Colorado and not return home and finds she has a real affinity and talent for silver mining. Although it's the 19th century and she's a woman she proves herself a survivor and able worker. Later she meets and falls madly in love with the rich silver mine owner, Horace Tabor and they have a wonderful life together and she actually has President Arthur attend her wedding at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. They have 2 daughters and life is wonderful until because of the silver versus gold standard issues, Horace becomes bankrupt. This does nothing to alter her deep love for him and she simply adjusts back to living a harsher, harder life that she's done before during her first marriage. When Horace dies,, the girls have a much harder time adjusting to their new way of life and leave Lizzie alone. With all the grief, loneliness and poverty time takes it's toll and she finally passes away. But what a fantastic life she led and what a courageous woman. The prose is beautiful and the novel touched me deeply. Thanks Net Galley and Serving House Books for a wonderful read. I shall always remember Lizzie Tabor's story.

I knew nothing about Baby Doe or Colorado mining history. Reading historical fiction always teaches me something new about a period in time which I love. This is a rags to riches story but beware it does not end happily. For as strong as Baby Doe was in her early life and all that she went through and overcame it was disappointing to see how she ended up. I really liked the first half of the book but the second half kind of drug on and I lost interest.

The Silver Baron’s Wife is the fictionalized account of Elizabeth McCourt Doe Tabor who was known as Baby Doe Tabor. This is based on a real-life woman of the same name whose story is well known in Colorado. Known from her birth in 1854 Wisconsin as Lizzie, her story is a remarkable “rags-to-riches-to-rags” tale as described in the book blurb.
Lizzie was a woman shunned by society starting with her divorce from her adulterous, drug addict first husband then to her shocking affair and subsequent marriage to the much older Horace Tabor. Tabor was a wealthy Denver businessman and known as the 1880’s Silver King. By all accounts Lizzie genuinely loved Horace and gave him two daughters. While married to her first husband Harvey Doe, she dressed like a man and worked in the silver mine in which they owned a share. While married to Tabor, she lived a life of extravagance and opulence with her every wish being granted.
Her life with Horace Tabor was soon to crumble and after he lost his fortune in a catastrophic stock market crash, they moved to a much smaller home until his death a few years later. Lizzie returned to Leadville, Colorado with her two young daughters to attempt and revive the Matchless Mine, the only property she had left. The last 35 years of her life were spent in a one room cabin near the mine writing eccentric thoughts and observations. Her tale is a sad one and one that will remain with the reader for a while. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. I gave it 3 ½ stars rounded up to 4.

I absolutely loved this book! The history was so rich and the imagery pulled you right in from the beginning! I identified with the main character so much, and also envied her work ethic and motivation that seemed endless! I am so glad that I got the opportunity to read this book, thank you so much to Angelle and the BOOKSFORWARD PR team!

This is the story of Elizabeth Tabor (also called Baby Doe Tabor). It tells the story of the fire that ruined her father's business in Oshkosh, Wisconsin that led to her disastrous first marriage and her working in a mine, The Fourth of July alongside the men, which was just not done in those days. It also details her marriage to Harold Tabor and how she struggles after they lose all their wealth. Then it details her story of moving back to Leadville, Colorado after her husbands death and her efforts to start up the Matchless (Mr. Tabor's old mine) as her husband asked her to. The book was very interesting because this was a story I had never heard about before and I learned a lot reading the book. The editing was very good and the characters really came alive for me. I found Mrs. Tabor to be a woman of great courage for her time and the way her life ended seemed sad to me. The story of her life was fascinating to read about and at times I felt I was right there with her.

True story of a determined young woman between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and how her passion for silver (not as a precious metal but as the thrill of discovery) has marked her life, from a A Catholic family of Irish origin, rather closed and bigoted, until she became herself a miner, marry the wealthiest owner of silver mines of her time and finally be devoid of anything that meant something to her.
The first part of the novel is very beautiful, and brings the reader straight in the events' era, does make you feel the living conditions and the force of the prejudices, even among people who lived in what may seem a very refined way, but under it, there is still the frontier. Already in this first part there are extracts of what should be a diary of the dreams of the protagonist, but are few, and usually targeted, and do not disturb.
In the second part however, after the protagonist has no news of her daughters, these extracts become narration, making the reading virtually unbearable.
I thank Serving House Books and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.