Publishers Weekly
08/21/2023
Djanikian (The Office of Mercy) returns with a thought-provoking if uneven family saga set during the Klondike Gold Rush. In 1897, Californians Ethel Berry and her husband Clarence strike gold in the Yukon Territory. Ethel’s unmarried sister Alice hopes for a piece of the fortune, and leaves behind the struggling family farm to join Ethel and Clarence. In the Yukon, she cares for Ethel, still dangerously weak after a miscarriage, and though Clarence appreciates Alice’s help, he resents her lack of deference and her desire for wealth of her own. One of the book’s strengths is Djanikian’s choice not to portray Alice as a virtuous feminist icon. She’s prejudiced against Indigenous people, which fuels her mistrust of Clarence’s Tlingit guide, Jim Lowell, as well as her resentment of Jim’s beautiful half sister, Jane, with whom she suspects Clarence is having an affair. When some of the Berrys’ gold disappears, Alice accuses the Lowells on scant evidence, and Clarence accidentally kills Jim in the resulting manhunt. In 2015, Alice’s elderly grandson, Peter Bailey, attempts to give Jane Lowell’s last living descendants several million dollars of the family fortune by way of restitution, against other family members’ objections. Though the contemporary narrative feels thin, Alice’s morally complex character and vividly evoked experiences are gripping. This offers ample rewards. Agent: Jenni Ferrari-Adler, Union Literary. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Told in glimmering prose and rich with historical detail, The Prospectors immerses us in the Yukon Gold Rush so deeply, you can feel the grit on your hands. A sweeping adventure story that explores the deep hunger for power, the muddy morality of what we do to get it, and the possibilities—and limitations—of making reparations for past wrongs.” — Celeste Ng, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Our Missing Hearts
"The Prospectors is smart, surprising, and epic: the sort of adventure that brings to life both a nineteenth-century gold rush and a twenty-first century fight for the family riches that remain. It's more than a golden nugget of a novel. It's the motherlode and I absolutely loved it." — Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant
“Vivid and precise, this epic story asks what happens after the gold rush, to those whose pockets are deep and to those whose pockets have been picked. Djanikian brings the historical details to life as well as the moral questions of the present in this rich, glittering novel.” — Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow
“Djanikian creates strong emotional attachments and builds subtle tension for readers. By explaining the gold rush’s historical background and narrating everyday life for prospectors, she provides a solid framework for exploring issues of racism, settler colonialism, and exploitation of natural resources. This engaging book will appeal to fans of Leon Uris, James Michener, and Herman Wouk.” — Booklist
“Thought-provoking … [Main character] Alice’s morally complex character and vividly evoked experiences are gripping. This offers ample rewards.” — Publishers Weekly
“An epic story of adventure, The Prospectors is lavishly researched and deeply felt. A fascinating, page-turning look at the true price of the American dream.” — Jenny Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of Pineapple Street
“Ariel Djanikian’s The Prospectors is pure gold—the beauty of Alice’s character, the precise rendition of terrain, the pain of the First Nations people who lost to the gold prospectors, Anna’s attempt to right her ancestors’ wrongs. Only Djanikian could’ve written this book—it’s tender, it’s precise, it’s brutal, it’s complex. It made me realize how much I’d waited for this after The Office of Mercy. I’m already waiting for Djanikian’s next.” — Uwem Akpan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Say You’re One of Them
"Beautifully drawn and deeply moving, The Prospectors, illuminates the rich and brutal landscape of the Yukon Gold Rush, along with the triumphs and tragedies of those men and women who claimed it as their own. A brilliant and powerful story, steeped in little-known history, Djankian's new novel shimmers like gold." — Alyson Richman, #1 international bestselling author of The Thread Collectors
“A captivating, unforgettable saga … a compelling tale of the American Dream and its rippling effects across generations.” — Woman's World
“An intriguing and needed take on the Gold Rush novel. . . Djanikian grapples with moral arguments about land, resources, labor, and capitalism and manages to do so without weighing down her rich and well-written narrative. The Prospectors glows with immersive prose, complex characters, and an evocative setting.” — Historical Novel Society
“With The Prospectors, Djanikian brings the novelist's microscope to the archives, taking the real history of the Berry family of California and exploring the motivations and personal dynamics and parallel lives that are so often left out of triumphalist histories of the west. The result is an illuminating exploration of the greed and human mess that lies beneath settler histories—and a truly gripping family story.” — Lydia Kiesling, author of The Golden State
“Fast-paced…Exciting to read…The Office of Mercy is an indisputable page-turner with a surprising ending.” — NPR
“Intriguing premise… [a] thoughtful debut.” — Publishers Weekly on The Office of Mercy
“An action-packed novel of fascinating ideas…. Serious, entertaining, and seriously entertaining.” — Charles Yu, National Book Award-winning author of Interior Chinatown, on The Office of Mercy
