Sly Grog and Boots: A Story of Gold, Greed, and Grace

Isabel Blair arrives on the chaotic goldfields of Ballarat in 1852 with a speculative wagonload of goods, planning to open a general store. In a tent. By herself. What could possibly go wrong? Well, armed holdup on the road, arson in her store, subterfuge to beat the police, a growing attraction to an elusive bank man, and the lethal riot that became Australia’s only armed rebellion. But it is a peculiar moment in Australia’s colonial history. Constrained by society everywhere else, a working woman blends easily into the motley crowd on “the diggings.” She has seen the opportunity, and now she seizes it – as an escape from overwhelming sorrow, and because she is a risk-taker by birth.Isabel is an intelligent observer, a quick actor, and a keen reader of character. However, trouble still finds her. At the personal level it is a conniving cousin from her former life in Edinburgh, and that frustratingly alluring bank man who can make or break her future. And at the larger social level it is a dangerous and vengeful anger growing around her as the “government men” strut their small policing powers across the goldfields.Through it all, Isabel journeys toward a choice in which she asks good friends to help her commit a hanging crime to save a life.