The Rail Queen — B.J. Scott

Winner, 2015 Beverly Hills Book Awards for Best Historical Fiction; Finalist, 2015 National Indie Excellence Awards, Historical Fiction; Finalist, Will Rogers Medallion Awards, 2015Montana, 1884: It was a time of vanishing cultures and rising empires. A time of much that could be done -- much that needed to be done. And in the end, it didn't matter who did it. Seventeen-year old schoolgirl Ryka Sundstrom dreams of doing what no girl ever has -- build a railroad. Fleeing her home and an arranged marriage, pursued across four states by a vengeful father bound by tradition, Ryka unites with a childhood sweetheart in Kansas, only to suffer his later betrayal. Surrounded by people who tell her girls don't build railroads, Ryka refuses to give up. Near defeat In the face of overwhelming odds, she offers herself to a potential backer. Will her new partner in business be her partner in love as well, or will he too turn against her? The truth will be told when ambition and boldness lead Ryka to a showdown with the feared Empire Builder of the Great Northern Railway -- James J. Hill. THE RAIL QUEEN weaves through the awakening of the American railroad as it knits together the strands of empire from Atlantic to Pacific -- even as every mile of new track speeds the vanishing of the American frontier, and of the brief age when anything was possible -- even for a young schoolgirl with an extraordinary dream.THE RAIL QUEEN is the fifth in the Tales of Strong Women series of historical novels by award-winning author B J Scott (Winner, 2011 WILLA Literary Award, Best Original Softcover Fiction, from Women Writing the West, for Light On A Distant Hill.