title: The Whip
author: Kondazian, Karen
description: 2014 Readers Favorite- Gold Medal Prize -Winner Best Western Fiction
  2013 International Book Award- first place -Winner Best Western Fiction,
  2013 National Indie Excellence Award -first place-Best Western fiction
  2013 Global Ebook Awards first place-Winner Best Historical Fiction
  2012 USA Best Book Award- first place- Winner Best Western Fiction
  First Place Goodreads Contest: "Best Book to be made into a Film"
  "Top 12 Best Western Books"--Goodreads Contest
   The Whip is inspired by the true story of a woman, Charlotte "Charley" Parkhurst (1812-1879) who lived most of her extraordinary life as a man in the old west. As a young woman in Rhode Island, she fell in love with a runaway slave and had his child. The destruction of her family drove her west to California, dressed as a man, to track the killer.
  Charley became a renowned stagecoach driver for Wells Fargo. She killed a famous outlaw, had a secret love affair, and lived with a housekeeper who, unaware of her true sex, fell in love with her. Charley was the first known woman to vote in America in 1868 (as a man). Her grave lies in Watsonville, California.
  This book contains strong language