Gilded Mountain by Kate Manning

The mining town of Moonstone Colorado in 1907 is as rough and ragged as the Rocky Mountains in which it resides.  The Pelletier family arrives to yet another tent city where Sylvie's father and brother work for the marble mining operation.  Like so many around them this town and operation is owned by an Eastern robber baron who bleeds dry the miners and their families.  Sylvie begins working at the manor home and sees a different side in addition to working as a cub reporter for the paper run by a straight shooting tough woman.  Not only do Sylvie and K.T. Redmond become fast friends but K.T. does her best to educate Sylvie in the news business and organizing a labor union.  Sylvie will lose her dad to yet another accident on the mountain after he is outspoken about worker's rights but her feelings become complicated by her infatuation of the owner's son Jace.  It is a time of independence and reform for some but at a great cost.  Racial hatred, labor strikes, distribution of wealth and power all play a great role here.  This sweeping saga shows the pioneering spirit of immigrant families and the never ending push to settle the West even under the violence of Mother Nature and men.  For historical fiction fans, adventurous spirits and those who love a good underdog story.  5 stars