The Daughter of a Magnate

Frank H. Spearman

Read by Bob R

(4.5 stars; 13 reviews)

This is an American Western without any bad guys. The main characters are trains, and the elements---snow, terrain, weather and water. Frank Spearman wrote six novels about the building, and early days, of the transcontinental railroad. This was his first. He introduces characters who will reappear in several of his later novels. Those novels all have villains. The daughter of the new owner of the railroad travels by rail with her father to see the new line and the West it covers. They encounter several dozen rough and capable employees, who constructed and run the line. They are thoroughly dedicated men; the railroad is all they know. A supervisor, Ab Glover, falls desperately in love with Gertrude Brock--the daughter of the Magnate. The story is about that love, but even more, it is about the great challenges of weather, terrain and accidents. The numerous terms Spearman uses to describe the railroad and the natural environment had this reader referring often to the dictionary. This reader feels that Spearman's novels are superior to those of the other several writers of American Westerns of the early 1900's. (Summary by Bob Rollins) (6 hr 34 min)