SOONER THAN GOLD is based loosely on the true story of Eliza Alicia Lynch who, in 1848, at the age of 13, fled Ireland to escape the Great Famine; who at 18 was the highest-paid and most sought-after courtesan in all of Paris; who, as mistress of the dictator, Francisco Solano L?pez, became Regent of Paraguay and the richest woman in the world. Together with L?pez, she involved that country in a bloody war, the result of which was total disaster.