That Wilder Woman — Barry Jay Kaplan

Driven by dreams of paradise, in search of the perfect future, they came to California's untamed coast.

He knew her only from a photograph, yet proper Bostonian Emmett Newcomb blazed a westward trail to claim Ada Wilder as his bride and California as his home. Here on the wild shores of America's new frontier, nestled amid miles of purple hills and golden beaches, they celebrated their love. Soon the secluded and magnificent Malibu Ranch became their own, but greed and "progress” in the shape of the mighty railroads and their barons threatened to split their land apart. Pen death struck in a single tragic blow, leaving Ada the proud, embattled guardian of the Malibu, fighting for her land, her life, her very soul. Rooted to the earth, married to the future's promise, that Wilder woman fought them all -- homesteaders, big business and big government as they tried to rape her land. Until she was forced to choose -- just when she thought the battle was won -- between her heart and her inheritance.