User:Roksenberg/The Whip (novel)

The Whip is a 2012 award winning historical fiction novel by American actress and author Karen Kondazian. The book was published by Hansen Publishing and released January 2012. The novel is based on the true story of Charlotte "Charley" Parkhurst (1812-1879).

Plot summary
The book follows Charlotte "Charley" Parkhurst, who lived most of her life as a man. After her husband and baby are killed, Parkhurst dresses as a man and travels to California to find their murderer. During this time she becomes a famous stagecoach driver, kills an outlaw, and lives with a female housekeeper who remained unaware that Parkhurst was a woman.

Characters

 * Charlotte “Charley” Parkhurst - grew up as an orphan at the Boston Society for Destitute Children. A natural horse woman, she was mentored by Jonas Parkhurst. During the California gold-rush, Charley stage-coached as a "whip" on the Wells Fargo line dressed as a man, while tracking her family’s killer. She was the first known woman to vote in the US (as a man).


 * Lee Colton - A troubled boy at the orphanage who protected a young Charlotte. In his adult life, he followed in Charlotte's shadows. His jealousy led him to murder Charlotte's family.


 * Jonas Parkhurst - an African-American stable-master, who worked at the orphanage. He taught Charlotte all there was to know about horses, becoming a surrogate father to her.


 * Byron Williams - an African-American farrier and blacksmith who fell in love with Charlotte, fathered her child, and was killed by Lee Colton.


 * Edmund Bennett - A professional gambler with a secret, who met and befriended Charley in Sacramento. He was able to pick up on the fact that Charley was really a woman and proceeded to have a love affair with her.


 * Anna - a traveling actress/prostitute who moved in with Charley in Sacramento and fell in love with her believing her to be a man. Traveling with Anna was her younger daughter Tonia.


 * Tonia - Anna’s daughter, who idolized Charley and dreamt of becoming a stagecoach driver like him. She discovered Charley’s secret and promised not to tell her mother. She naively seeks out Lee Colton to kill him for Charley’s suffering but dies at his hand.

Reception
Critical reception for The Whip has been positive, with the Library Journal calling it "a fascinating blend of both fact and fiction". In March 2012 the book was featured on the cover of Publishers Weekly's magazine and in November of the same year, won the USA Book News Award for Best Historical Fiction. In 2013, The Whip was awarded Best Western by the National Indie Excellence Award, 'Best Western/Historical Fiction' by the Global E-Book Awards and Best Western by the International Book Awards.