"First time author Sundell creates a unique romance that dramatizes the hardships faced by Jewish immigrants and ambitious women in mid-nineteenth-century America. After leaving their shtetl in Russia for a freer life in Philadelphia in 1867, Yitzhak sells the family's silver menorah to make his daughter's dream of becoming a doctor come true. Zoe-Esther graduates from medical school, realizes that her father is suffering from tuberculosis, and decides that they must move to the Colorado territory. But the trip is arduous, and Golden City is not welcoming to Jews, let alone a woman doctor. As they struggle to survive, Zoe-Esther meets Jake, a true product of the Wild West - the owner of a local saloon, a gambler, a drinker, and, most problematically for Zoe-Esther, a non-Jew. She fights her attraction by recalling her visit to the match-maker back in Russia, while Yitzhak argues for her marrying a young Jewish doctor back in Philadelphia. Fresh in its character, and cultural concerns yet classic in its obstacles to romance."