Description
By Candace Smith
From ragpicker, to thief, to whore. For a girl brought up in the slums of New York’s Five Points, born to one of the immigrant families whose dreams of a new life ended right there, that was her most likely career path. Some, maybe, would find a husband, and perhaps he would neither spend their little money on drink nor beat her regularly; perhaps, but probably not. With no work, no prospects and no hope, few could avoid the depression that drove men to drink, crime and violence.
Maude is tough, a necessary quality for survival in Five Points. She is also intelligent, ambitious and determined to find a better life, but realistic enough to know she has little hope of ever escaping the slums. When she sees the chance to get away with some money, she takes it without hesitation. Others in Five Points have neither the luck nor the wits to make their own luck, but Maude’s actions have an impact on more lives than she could have possibly anticipated. “Last Pass” is a new town at the base of the Rockies in Wyoming, founded by three young men who headed west after a life of crime when their fathers were hanged. Few come that way, and most who do have a very good reason for avoiding the usual trails west. Perhaps it is pure chance takes Maude and her little group of slum whores in that direction, or perhaps it is her destiny.
