Web of Gold

Backwoods Charleston 1860s, is vastly different from that of a doctor’s wife in Chester, England.
In 1867 Charleston, on New Zealand’s West Coast, is a primitive place. Gold has just been found and hastily erected tents and tiny cottages are scattered throughout the roughly felled bush as hopeful miners swarm there in search of a quick fortune. Wooden facades line the muddy streets as Doctor Arthur Jones, his wife, Felicity and their two daughters arrive from England, expecting to live in the new house being built for them. Instead, the house isn’t finished and they are expected to live in a tent. Felicity needs to learn quickly, how to cook over an open fire, a very different scenario to her comfortable house in England with its solid walls and proper kitchen.
Patrick Kavanagh sails into Hokitika en route to Charleston to join the gold rush, and finds the only way to reach his destination is to walk the treacherous beach route. The way is hazardous following the beaches, many of which can only be reached at low tide. High bluffs and thick bush block his way; wide rivers have to be crossed. Arriving in Charleston, Patrick is involved in a fight and is injured, resulting in a trip to the new doctor and a meeting with the doctor’s daughter, Amy.
Gold is in high demand – and often stolen from those unwilling to trust a bank. Fire breaks out easily among the wooden buildings and fights erupt for no particular reason. A riot develops between rival factions, and death is never far away. The new doctor is a busy man. Charleston is noisy and reeks of unwashed miners and horse manure. There are few women among the many miners, and life is hard for the men, often working in cold and wet conditions. So too, is it difficult for the few women as they battle smoking wood stoves, try to dry damp washing in the everlasting mist and drizzle, and cope with small children, fractious because they can’t play outside.
Can Patrick and Amy’s love overcome the difference in social standing between a doctor’s daughter and a miner?