The Fire and the Ore

A Novel

By: Olivia Hawker

Narrated by: Marli Watson, Billie Fulford-Brown

Three spirited wives in nineteenth-century Utah. One husband. A compelling novel of family, sisterhood, and survival by the Washington Post bestselling author of One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow.

1857. Three women—once strangers—come together in unpredictable Utah Territory. Hopeful, desperate, and willful, they’ll allow nothing on Earth or in Heaven to stand in their way.

Following the call of their newfound Mormon faith, Tamar Loader and her family weather a brutal pilgrimage from England to Utah, where Tamar is united with her destined husband, Thomas Ricks. Clinging to a promise for the future, she abides an unexpected surprise: Thomas is already wedded to one woman—Tabitha, a local healer—and betrothed to still another.

Orphaned by tragedy and stranded in the Salt Lake Valley, Jane Shupe struggles to provide for herself and her younger sister. She is no member of the Mormon migration, yet Jane agrees to marry Thomas. Out of necessity, with no love lost, she too must bear the trials of a sister-wife.

But when the US Army’s invasion brings the rebellious Mormon community to heel, Tamar, Jane, and Tabitha are forced to retreat into the hostile desert wilderness with little in common but the same man—and the resolve to keep themselves and their children alive. What they discover, as one, is redemption, a new definition of family, and a bond stronger than matrimony that is tested like never before.

©2022 Olivia Hawker (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“An interesting and readable story, but what makes it more profound is that all these characters actually existed, with nearly unchanged backstories.”—Booklist

“A deeply moving novel that is so beautifully crafted you can’t help but feel the sun beat down on your back or the snow bite into your skin. The evocative setting and well-researched history combined with nuanced characters make this novel one not to miss.”—Historical Novels Review

“With The Fire and the Ore, Olivia Hawker delivers a compelling and epic novel that proves she is a master of her craft, a storyteller of supreme talent. This book is all heart. It’s meticulously researched, brilliantly constructed, and rich with historical detail. On top of all that, it’s a stunning and breathtaking page-turner…This is, quite simply, a beautiful book that readers will love and devour.”—Julianne MacLean, USA Today bestselling author

Absolutely fascinating!

Olivia Hawker is a phenomenal writer! I learned so much from this story about the Mormons - their incredibly difficult migration across the plains to Utah, their beliefs, their history of persecution, and the polygamous lifestyle of some members.

I look forward eagerly to her next novel.

great story

such a wonderful telling of the pioneers struggles! great narration. really brought the story to life!

Interesting but too religious

This is a very interesting historical novel. I learned a lot about the Mormon religion, the journeys Mormons undertook to Salt Lake City and the thorny interactions between Mormons and the Federal government. I’d never heard that some compared polygamy to slavery. I did not enjoy the overtly religious sections… the visions, etc.

Just mediocre

The story was fine, but the narration made the characters unbelievable. I’ve read far more interesting frontier and Mormon fiction, and the narration made all of these characters seem 2 dimensional.

Beautifully written & thought provoking

I got hooked on Olivia Hawker's prose while reading One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow. The Fire and the Ore is another masterfully written book. It would have been an intriguing historical novel even if it was "only" about the very different lives of three women on the American Frontier in the 1850s, but it was so much more. I had very little knowledge of the Mormon culture, Deseret, and the early years of the Utah Territory, before reading this novel. The book got me so intrigued, that I found myself searching for images of places, as I went along. Reading about the Mormon handcart migration was horrific. What a tragic journey.

It is a story of overcoming adversity, of female friendships, chosen family, and faith. It is also a history lesson on why gender equality matters, especially in the most vulnerable of positions. Hawker threaded the story masterfully by not taking ideological sides on polygamy, and rather addressing the many complicated feelings directly. As I followed the characters' physical and emotional journeys, I got to understand their reasons.

The author's note at the end adds more authenticity to the story. I ended up searching for each character, and the importance of telling this narrative was reinforced in even more clarity, when I found long entries of the men's lives, but only names, dates of birth/death, and number of children had, for the women. Not allowing the stories of women, whose societal value was directly tied to whom they married and how many live children they birthed, is essential to understand both our past and our future.