Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this as an audio book. The reader was great with voices, emotion, dialect, and accents. However, if you are from Michigan or Wisconsin, I can't recommend it.
Unless you don't mind pasties being pronounced "pay-stee." If you know, you know.
And Mackinac was pronounced with the hard 'c' at the end.
Kaiser (which happens to be my maiden name but also the name of the king in Germany) was both pronounced correctly and as Kay-zer.
Lastly, Houghton is not nor will it ever be How-ton. Eek.
But the book itself, incredibly well researched, and a very good quality historical fiction that was mostly historical fact. Very well done!
Unless you don't mind pasties being pronounced "pay-stee." If you know, you know.
And Mackinac was pronounced with the hard 'c' at the end.
Kaiser (which happens to be my maiden name but also the name of the king in Germany) was both pronounced correctly and as Kay-zer.
Lastly, Houghton is not nor will it ever be How-ton. Eek.
But the book itself, incredibly well researched, and a very good quality historical fiction that was mostly historical fact. Very well done!
dark
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
4.5 stars rounded down for a historical fiction book based upon an actual strike in 1913 Upper Peninsula Michigan. The book's main character is Annie Clements who starts a women's group to support the striking copper miners. The miners work in dangerous conditions with no safety provisions for meager pay. Almost every week a miner dies from a cave in, rock fall, or equipment malfunction. Many more miners are injured on a daily basis. The company does not compensate injured miners or the families of dead miners. It evicts the families of dead miners from company houses.
The entire town of Calumet is owned by the company. Annie Clements was a real person, along with several other characters in the book. One these characters, and another actual historic person, is Mary Harris Jones, known as "Mother Jones" a fierce Union campaigner, who travels the country making speeches to striking miners and raising money to support them.
Warning: There are descriptions of violence between strike breakers and strikers, domestic violence, and the brutal beating of prisoners arrested on false charges by Sheriff's men in the pay of the company.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of miners and their efforts to unionize. This was a library display book, meaning that a librarian recommended it.
SPOILER alert:
There is a tragic ending, based on an actual tragedy. Woody Guthrie wrote the song "1913 Massacre" about the incident.
The author has a note at the end, citing sources that she used.
The entire town of Calumet is owned by the company. Annie Clements was a real person, along with several other characters in the book. One these characters, and another actual historic person, is Mary Harris Jones, known as "Mother Jones" a fierce Union campaigner, who travels the country making speeches to striking miners and raising money to support them.
Warning: There are descriptions of violence between strike breakers and strikers, domestic violence, and the brutal beating of prisoners arrested on false charges by Sheriff's men in the pay of the company.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of miners and their efforts to unionize. This was a library display book, meaning that a librarian recommended it.
SPOILER alert:
There is a tragic ending, based on an actual tragedy. Woody Guthrie wrote the song "1913 Massacre" about the incident.
The author has a note at the end, citing sources that she used.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Police brutality
Minor: Domestic abuse
challenging
inspiring
sad
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It took a while to get going, and ended with a slow fade, but in between there was a lot of good stuff. The miner's strike in Calumet in 1913 brought in elements of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, the photography of Jacob Riis, the orphan trains, protest songs, women's suffrage, the labor activism of Mother Jones and Ella Bloor, the work of Jane Addams, Samuel Gompers, Clarence Darrow, gender divides, First Amendment responsibilities, strikebreakers, teen love, and more.
One of the threads I especially appreciated was the idea of what happens if you fight like hell, things look like they’re going your way, but then… you still lose. (Russell added more to her draft about this after the 2016 election.) Moishe Glass, Charlie Miller, and another Jones herself all understand losing. But they also deeply understand the need to fight on anyway. I get the sense this is a philosophy more of us will need to embrace in the near future.
Spoiler
The end is on the depressing side. The strike doesn't end successfully, the union ends in tragedy, Big Annie divorces her first drunk husband and begins life with her second, it's a downer. But the younger generation was ready to pick up the baton, which offers some hope at the end.One of the threads I especially appreciated was the idea of what happens if you fight like hell, things look like they’re going your way, but then… you still lose. (Russell added more to her draft about this after the 2016 election.) Moishe Glass, Charlie Miller, and another Jones herself all understand losing. But they also deeply understand the need to fight on anyway. I get the sense this is a philosophy more of us will need to embrace in the near future.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes