Sara Dean, Travers: A Story of the San Francisco Earthquake (1908) 287 pp. Illustrated by W. Herbert Dunton.
San Francisco socialite Gwendolyn Thornton awakens early one morning to discover a burglar in her bedroom pocketing her jewelry. As she confronts the thief, the earthquake strikes, destroying her house and killing her aunt as she sleeps. The intruder helps Gwen escape and takes her to the safety of a refugee camp on Twin Peaks. In the days that follow, Gwen learns to know her rescuer, a British ex-army surgeon named Keith Travers, as they face the horrors caused by the quake and fire. Travers had been dismissed from his regiment following a scandal in India, eventually turning to a life of crime. The earthquake—and Gwendolyn—offers him a last chance at redemption. This novel, written very shortly following the 1906 earthquake, features graphic descriptions of the city and it residents in the wake of the disaster.
Baird & Greenwood 619; Hubin