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A review by aimiller
Copper Divide: A Novel by Beth Kirschner
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program, and I am grateful to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.
An interesting look at the Calumet copper mine strikes and the Italian Hall disaster, seen through the eyes of community members with investments in the strike, either for or against. It did feel a little heavy on the perspectives of people opposed to the strike--a 2:1 ratio of narrators. I don't need it to necessarily be balanced, but I think adding the perspective of a union organizer might be useful to give better depth to how the workers were actually trying to change things (though I understand the impulse to instead focus on the wives of workers.)
But what really moved it down from 4 stars to 3.5 for me was how quickly it ended? I literally kept tapping my ereader thinking there would be another page, it felt that quickly cut off.
I do think this book showcased the diversity of workers and the community around mining in northern Michigan, which is something that can often be swiped under the rug, and I think the glance especially into the ways that Jewish people (who are often erased from these kinds of histories) lived, worshipped together, and worked might be really cool for people to read.
Overall this was an interesting look at an event that maybe is not well known to people outside the region (or who, in my case, don't have a labor historian for a parent,) but felt surface at times and ended so abruptly I was literally confused when there wasn't more.
An interesting look at the Calumet copper mine strikes and the Italian Hall disaster, seen through the eyes of community members with investments in the strike, either for or against. It did feel a little heavy on the perspectives of people opposed to the strike--a 2:1 ratio of narrators. I don't need it to necessarily be balanced, but I think adding the perspective of a union organizer might be useful to give better depth to how the workers were actually trying to change things (though I understand the impulse to instead focus on the wives of workers.)
But what really moved it down from 4 stars to 3.5 for me was how quickly it ended? I literally kept tapping my ereader thinking there would be another page, it felt that quickly cut off.
I do think this book showcased the diversity of workers and the community around mining in northern Michigan, which is something that can often be swiped under the rug, and I think the glance especially into the ways that Jewish people (who are often erased from these kinds of histories) lived, worshipped together, and worked might be really cool for people to read.
Overall this was an interesting look at an event that maybe is not well known to people outside the region (or who, in my case, don't have a labor historian for a parent,) but felt surface at times and ended so abruptly I was literally confused when there wasn't more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Rape
The sexual assault in this book isn't really named as such, but multiple times the husband of one of the main characters forces or coerces her into having sex with him when she doesn't want it.