(An Epic Poem of 6 books, 740 pages, and 33,616 words) Toishan: A Ballad of the Gum Shan Men and Women Who Built The American Railroads. Spanning more than 1,300 years and over forty-seven generations, Toishan bookmarks at key points in time the contributions of the Chinese men and women who built the American railroads. In six spellbinding works, Cashwell chronicles the return of the Chinese to California, and the arrival of the Irish, in an imaginative but highly believable alternate history of the discovery and ultimate assimilation of the American West. In BOOK FIVE, "Come to Gum Shan" (Gold Mountain) becomes the call for thousands. And they did only to die by the hundreds after they were dumped ashore. The adventures of Zhau My-Lee and his daughter Electra continue at a breathtaking pace as Zhau becomes Headman of the Central Pacific Railroad Line and his daughter becomes head lady of O'Ryan Gnarr Roberts. More than thirteen centuries later, on the day of Our Lord recorded the 10th day of May 1869, a single word was telegraphed but once from Promontory Point on down a single-wire line--from northwest of Ogden over near Brigham it came--and never again has it been repeated. Where the wheels of the mighty engines "Rogers"--119 And "Jupiter"--No. 60 were seated . . . DONE! Roberts lays the "Golden Spike" and Electra My-Lee cares for her father over the dry barrens and through the mountains to eventually become the "Girl of O'Ryan Roberts' Dreams." In between, the railroad tycoons abuse the Chinese while favoring the Irish, eventually erasing all visuals of any Chinaman from the lasting picture of the laying of the "Golden Spike." Their corrupt and scurrilous activities ignored by O'Ryan Roberts who takes Electra My-Lee as his wife.
About the Author: John E. Cashwell, Sr. is the author of the highly acclaimed six-book epic poem Toishan, and a most recent collection of 40 poems, "Where Purple Shadows Fall." Set in the future, 2020-2022, his new novels "The Justice Compulsion" and its sequel "Sail On Silver Girl" explore the catastrophic consequences of the growing divisiveness in the American sociopolitical experiment followed on by the evils of the emergence of the Socialist International Society within a New World Order. A third novel in the series, "With Honor and Distinction" is currently underway. John has over forty years advertising, marketing and copy writing experience, most notably responsible for helping to launch the Panasonic brand to consumers in North America. A former US Marine, a graduate of Duke University, and a former Executive Vice president with Grey Advertising, John lives on Long Island where he enjoys writing, fitness training and golf with his wife of fifty-two years, Ann M. Cashwell