CHARACTERS
MISS ISABELLA BIRD
19th Century British travel writer and explorer, embarking on her second of many future international tours, fearless and curious, her will and drive are matched only with her kindness and grace in challenging circumstances. Gregarious, yet with a fondness for solitude, a keen observer of the majestic natural world, driven by a desire to see as much of it as humanly possible. Holds her sister close to her heart. Not afraid of being the lone female in a man's world, adaptable yet remaining true to herself. Hiding her painful afflictions. At the cusp of 40, just prior to her global fame, yet accustomed to some renown, she is fearful only in the face of love.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN JIM NUGENT
The enigmatic legendary desperado, an unlikely misanthrope, a secret poet, the living definition of rugged handsomeness, despite a facial scar due to the claws of a grizzly who left him for dead. With the posture and voice of a gentleman scholar, yet a brusque, trapper's facade. Dressed in rags and furs, yet armed to the teeth. The unofficial gate keeper of Estes Park. Loyal only to his beloved collie Ring. Has seen a great many things in his 45 years, though he has never met a woman like Isabella Bird.
MRS. ANNA STODDART
English biographer, hand picked by Mrs. Bird Bishop to write her memoirs. A bit of an iconoclast, ahead of her time, has difficulty staying within the confining societal restraints of Victorian womanhood. Disheveled yet charmingly so, lives for her work, inquisitive, well-educated, uncovering the mysteries of Isabella Bird's Colorado days
MRS. ESME EDWARDS
African American, daughter of former slaves, making a new life in Colorado with her husband who is a ranch hand at Estes Park. A strong pioneer woman, a cook, an herbalist, religious, a beautiful spirit who befriends Isabella Bird and gives her the strength she needs (as well as the boots off her own feet) so that she could climb a mountain
MRS. ISABELLA BIRD BISHOP
Septuagenarian, on borrowed time, while facing a diagnosis of advanced heart disease handpicks her biographer so that she may be in charge of her own history, as she has her entire life. The first woman to be nominated to the Royal Geographic Society, a photographer, the author of over a dozen successful and popular travelogues which detail her treks to Japan, Persia, Kurdistan, Tibet, China, Australia and many other far off points of the globe. At a time when most women of her position seldom strayed from their drawing rooms, she saw the world, on her own and wrote about it
MRS. MAURA EVANS
Immigrant pioneer woman, staunch Catholic, pregnant mother of three, 40s, a tired workhorse of a woman, a survivor who stands by her family and hapless husband, remains an optimist in the face of a coming gloom
MISTER WILLIAM HAIGH
The quintessential English dandy, yet a force to be reckoned with. Manager of Lord Dunraven's estate, yet a manipulator for his own gains who won't let anything (or anyone) stand in his way.
MISTER GRIFFITH EVANS
A stocky Catholic Irishman, prone to drink, owner of Estes Park. Reckless businessman who loves his family. A puppet of Haigh and Dunraven, the tragic figure and reluctant murderer who gets caught up in a dark storm and ends up the trigger man.
LORD DUNRAVEN
Wealthy English earl, ruled by his ego and greed, initiates an illegal and deadly land scheme to bypass the 1862 Homestead Law. Oxford educated, debonair. Led by the strong desire to rule his own small kingdom in the form of an 8000-acre game preserve for he and his wealthy cohorts, with no regard to those who have staked their claims on his coveted land.
MISS JENNIE EVANS
Teen daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Evans, outdoorsy, slight tomboy characteristics as her younger brothers are her only playmates, unaware of her beauty. Childlike, strong, nature-lover. Idolizes Miss Bird, in awe of her travels.