The first Taylor Brown book I read was Wingwalkers. It impressed me so much that I leapt at the opportunity to read Rednecks which, I believe, is evenThe first Taylor Brown book I read was Wingwalkers. It impressed me so much that I leapt at the opportunity to read Rednecks which, I believe, is even better for it presents a very important, and not widely known, episode in American labor history. I was familiar with a portion of the story only from having seen John Sayles’ 1987 film Matewan.
Rednecks is an excellent historical novel based on the events that occurred in Matewan and culminated in a labor war at Blair Mountain, West Virginia during 1920-1921. Using some historical figures, such as Mother Jones, a popular labor organizer who traveled the country to encourage and help “her boys”, and Sid Hatfield, who was both hero and martyr to the labor union cause, Brown also added many powerful characters to populate both sides of this battle for rights to a fair living.
At a time when mine owners not only paid for work done in script that could only be used at company owned stores, but also owned housing, owned the company doctors, etc, etc, the appeal and need for a union was obvious to the workers. Just as obvious was the incentive for the wealthy owners, many of whom lived at a distance, to forbid organizing and to destroy those who dared to try it. They hired private agencies to discourage organizing and sometimes to kill miners or union sympathizers as examples.
This episode was a huge moment in the history of the labor movement of this country and deserves to be better known. Thanks to Taylor Brown it will be. He provides an author’s note with information about specific characters and a bibliography for further learning about this episode in the labor movement as well as more general information.
Highly recommended to history readers, historical fiction readers, those interested in the labor movement in the United States and an immersive story of people seeking justice. And it has a lot of action.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC of this book. This review is my own....more
Whale Fall is a debut novel from Elizabeth O’Connor set on a small island off the coast of Wales during the late 1930s. We learn of life there throughWhale Fall is a debut novel from Elizabeth O’Connor set on a small island off the coast of Wales during the late 1930s. We learn of life there through the eyes of Manod a late teenage girl who is now feeling the trap that island life can be, with its limited expectations and possibilities. Manod lives with her father and younger sister in a small home that is constantly damp. Everything on the island is damp and most often cold. It’s a difficult life for the men who work at sea and the women who work on land.
The whale washing up on the island’s shore marks a change in routine for everyone, child or adult, and is also a wonder. Some question if it may be an omen of some kind. Then there is the arrival of the English man and woman, come to study the island and its people, how they live, what they think. Here is Manod’s chance to become familiar with people who live “over there” and have been to university, have lived some of her dreams.
The prose is spare like the island but so captures the emotion, the color of nature and wildlife, the life of the sea and weather. And the culture of the island is slowly revealed in word, song and story. This is a quiet novel with quickly passing moments of happiness, lingering sadness. Recommended .
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC of this book....more
The Lost Book of Bonn by Brianna Labuskes is a work of historical fiction set before and during World War II primarily in Bonn and Berlin, Germany andThe Lost Book of Bonn by Brianna Labuskes is a work of historical fiction set before and during World War II primarily in Bonn and Berlin, Germany and in the immediate post-war period near Frankfurt, Germany as a young woman sent from the U.S. Library of Congress arrives for a temporary placement at the Offenbach Depot, a depository of books confiscated from the many Nazi caches discovered by the Monuments Men.
Emmy Clarke, a librarian and war widow, arrived in Germany in an Army uniform for the planned two months duration of her visit, but was a civilian, and above all a person who prized books. Her contact, Major Wesley Arnold, was one of those storied Monuments Men who had been working to find everything that the Nazi government had plundered from those people sent to the camps and the art stolen from museums and other cultural institutions.
The earlier stories involved teenage sisters Annelise and Christina, in 1938 and 1943. Annelise is the older sister, worried about what is happening in Germany, unwilling to follow the rules, friends with a group who enjoy nature and hiking in the mountains. She and her friends have become involved in prank type behavior toward the Reich as part of the Edelweiss Pirates. The question becomes what will they do as the tactics of government harden. Christina is more of a follower. She loves her sister but can’t follow that type of existence. She likes order and deals well with rules. She joined the Bund Deutscher Madel, the group intended for all girls. What will she do if these rules should endanger those she loves?
The author provides information on the historical background for some of the specific events cited in the novel. Once again, I learned more about the Holocaust and WWII from this novel. Another reason I’m always glad for good historical fiction.
Recommended for those who like good historical fiction and novels about WWII, Germany and the Holocaust.
Thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for an eARC of this book. This review is my own....more
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