The Survivor: and other tales of Old San Francisco by Steve Bartholomew
An
Easy Read, but Not an Easy Life
This 141-page
selection of short stories about the Old San Francisco (first called Yerba
Buena) is an easy read.
In a
conversational style, Bartholomew’s main character tells the reader interesting
aspects about the growing pains and tragedies of this great American city. His
often self-effacing accounts about his own success and life in the emerging
West are interlaced with dry wit and a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor.
It makes for a
pleasant time spent, and whether or not there are a few liberties with the
facts is irrelevant. Each of these entertaining short stories can stand alone, but
the recurring characters of Hiram Courtenay and his wife Lisbeth provide
continuity, and I grew quite fond of the intrepid pair as they endured fires,
loss and social upheaval around them.
Indeed Hiram,
although a successful businessman, can be found reaching out to those less
fortunate, providing them not only with counsel but a helping hand. He owns
warehouses along the docks and sees first-hand those huddled and befuddled
immigrants being disgorged from the bowels of arriving clipper ships. He and
his wife are quick to ask them to their home and to provide a meal.
I am still
grateful I didn’t live then and there.
Definitely worth
a read for those interested in life in the Old West, and in San Francisco’s
past in particular.
