Calico Palace

By: Gwen Bristow

Narrated by: Gabra Zackman

Kendra comes to San Francisco, a sleepy town of 900 people, because her stepfather, an army colonel, is charged with overseeing its defenses during the Mexican War. Marny arrives from Honolulu to set up a gambling hall. Neither expects to be swept up in one of history's greatest adventures, which begins when tiny flakes of gold are discovered in the California hills.

As both young women follow their dreams into the mining camps and back to a rapidly growing San Francisco, they encounter ambitious settlers, sailors, miners, ranchers, and mysterious drifters, men who will offer them love or friendship or will break their hearts. Yet Kendra and Marny's lives stay centered on the Calico Palace, the little gambling operation in a tent in Shiny Gulch that becomes the most opulent gambling house in California.

Thrilling and rich in authentic historical detail, Calico Palace is first-rate historical fiction that informs and entertains.

©1970 Gwen Bristow (P)2018 Tantor

An old favorite!

Read this back on the 70s. So glad that it’s on audible. I did forget though how much poor Kendra went through!!

One of my all time favorite books

My grandmother gave me this book years ago. I've read it over and over during the years. I think I went through three paperbacks because I lent them to family and friends who were not as careful with books as they should be. I was thrilled when it came out in Kindle and even happier when I found an unabridged version on Audible.

The backbone of this story is the friendship between two women in the San Francisco Bay area beginning 1848 and ending a few years later. When Kendra, 'a good girl', arrives in SF with her mother, the town is only an American army and trading post on the edge of the Pacific. Soon Marny, a gambling hall owner, arrives from Hawaii. She and her business partner have heard the stories about gold and they want to see for themselves.

Kendra and Marny's friendship forms as they go to the gold fields. Many to set up a gambling tent, The Calico Palace, and Kendra with her new husband to find their fortune.

In the fall when they go back to San Francisco everything has changed. The population of the town has exploded.

Over the next three years the town grows. It is basically a tent city and burns three times. But friendships are strong, romance is present but not overwhelming.

a lot of detail, characters and history

filled long hours. sometimes it felt as if it would never end. sometimes I didn't want it to.

My favorite since 13 yo

Kendra and Marey are spectacularly portrayed as they maneuver through the Gold Rush. Great historical story.

Praise of Calico Palace

Wonderful story and characters, but also a fascinating history of the beginning and tumultuous growth of San Francisco.