China Grade: A novel about the Transcontinental Railroad

Sixteen years after the gold rush, California underwent a social and cultural transformation with the influx of Chinese workers to build the transcontinental railroad. They filled the ranks of the Anglo-Americans. Together they risked everything battling the elements in the high Sierra while laying track.China Grade is the story of two Chinese brothers and a Cornish family searching for a better tomorrow. Their lives, hopes, and dreams cross paths in unexpected ways.This novel is an insightful historical account wrapped around a love story. It breathes life into the people who built the Overland Route as it delves into the motivations and challenges they faced — physical and cultural — working for the Central Pacific Railroad. This is the first book in a trilogy. Book two, Wrights, was published in 2018. (Updated Sept. 1, 2019)