Highly enjoyed this one! It kept me engaged throughout and was a joy to read, would certainly recommend!

3.5 stars

"The Women of the Copper Country" told a very interesting story based on real events and I mostly enjoyed this novel. Unfortunately, the writing style didn't really work for me.

I'm from coal mining country so this story resonated with me. This book follows Annie Clements as she stands up to the copper mining moguls, leading a group of resilient women behind her. Even as the odds stack up against them, they stand brave in the face of danger. This book is historically backed in the labor movement, and the author draws the reader in with well-written descriptions of what the life and times may have been for men and women who faced these types of adversities.

Having recently finished the previously published “The Women of the Copper Country” by Mary Doria Russell, I am happy to have had the chance for the e-book preview; thank you NetGalley and Atria Books!

The lessons to be learned from this story were many, and heart-breaking. Set in 1913, when labor unions were in their infancy and attempting to establish a fair wage and safer working conditions for miners in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the struggles endured and the vivid description of the mines put me deep below in the horrific, inky darkness. The determination and courage of those who sacrificed and fought for the common good of all, and a better future for generations of working men who came after, will stay with me long after reading this moving historical novel.

“One day life will be better for the ones who come after us.”

The Women of the Copper County by Mary Doria Russell was an excellent book. It was the first book that I had ever read by Mary Doria Russell but I will definitely look for others by her. I did not know much about the copper mining industry prior to reading this novel. This was a brilliantly written book that transported the reader to a time and place so important in the history of our country. Mary Doria brought the characters alive with rich language and such passion. I listened to Women of the Copper Country on audio CD read by Cassandra Campbell. From the very first disc I was so engrossed in both the story and the history.

The setting was Calumet, Michigan during the early 1900's. All of Calumet's population made their living centered around The Calumet and Hecla Mining Company located on the Keweenaw Peninsula on Lake Superior. Most of the men worked in the mine while others worked in stores owned by the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company. The town's residents were made up of many nationalities. There were 40,000 residents and over thirty different languages could be heard at any given time. The mines located in Calumet were the largest and most successful in the United States. Mining was so dangerous though. The miners risked their lives every day going below ground. Injuries, accidents and even death were common day occurrences in this town. The rewards were meager. Miners risked their lives for little pay and never a thank you. Their wages hardly put food on their table or bought clothes for their children. The hours were long and grueling. The wives of the miners constantly dreaded that knock on their door that was meant to inform them of the fate of their loved ones. Mining families rented their homes from the company. Calumet and Hecla also owned the stores where the miners and their families shopped for food and supplies. The residents of Calumet led very hard lives and most of them saw no way out.

Annie Klobuchar Clements was the main character in The Women of the Copper County. From the start it was evident that Annie was very special. Besides her height, which was significant, Annie was well liked, a leader, passionate, and courageous. She had lived in Calumet, Michigan her entire life and she was sick and tired of the life the miners and their families were made to endure. Annie organized and formed The Women's Auxiliary Committee. It began to help families with clothing and food and to help families that had lost loved ones any way they could. Annie became a leader. She was respected and counted on. Everyone looked to her for advice, for their next move, and for friendship. The women came together, and under Annie's leadership, over 10,000 miners went on strike and joined Annie in demonstration parades. Annie marched in the parades with the other women and miners holding the American flag high. She became known as The Joan of Arc of Calumet. She gave speeches and her voice resonated throughout the town. Annie worked tirelessly and her spirit was contagious.

By 1913, Annie had already been arrested and had worked in the workhouse for a period of time. After she healed from that ordeal and got her strength back, Annie went on leading the Ladies Auxiliary. She wanted to do something special for the children of Calumet since it was almost Christmas. With much planning a Christmas party was planned to be held at the Italian Club. The day ended in tragedy and it just about broke Annie.

Many of the characters in The Women of the Copper Country were either real or based on real people. The events occurred and gave me a good look into the early labor/union movement in our country. This was a well researched book. It tapped every emotion in me as I read it. I highly recommend The Women of the Copper County by Mary Doria Russell. (less)

I had this book in my to read list for quite a while and am glad that I finally picked it up and spent several hours reading of Big Annie. The book captured my attention from the beginning and I wouldn't call it a fast read, nor an easy one, but it has a lot of information on copper mining, the hard life they lived, and the consequences of trying to enact unions.
It was based on true events with fictional characters created for depicting the story. The writing and research were both excellent. This is a very good historical fiction book.
I certainly appreciated receiving an ARC from Atria Books and NetGalley for my unbiased review – This one comes in with 4****'s.

This novel is about the people of Copper Country in Calumet and the poor living and working conditions of the miners in the early 1900's. They feel trapped because their jobs and homes are all owned by the mining company and run by James McNaughton, who is a pretty terrible person.

I liked this novel but sometimes it veered too far into feeling a little heavy handed in certain ways but I'm probably the minority.

I liked that it incorporated the Italian Hall disaster of 1913, it has a lot in common with the Victoria Hall disaster, and in real life did have a lot of miners involved. I did feel the pacing of how it was incorporated felt shoehorned in though.

Overall I thought it was quite good, but it did take me a long time to finish. 3/5.

This was my first book from this author, and I'm interested to read more, particularly seeing that a lot of her work is of a very different genre to this one.
An interesting look at working class communities from a very different time period to now and how women Get Through.. 3.5/5 not quite hitting the 4 star mark but still a good read.

I don’t read a lot of historical fiction but was inspired to read this one because Mary Doria Russell wrote one of my all time favorite books (The Sparrow). I really enjoyed learning about something I had no knowledge of at all - copper mining in the early 1900s.

There were many times I saw clear parallels to things that are happening in our world today - and many other times I was reminded to be grateful I live now and not then. Not least of which was the reminder of how quickly we can communicate information and stay connected to each other. This past year and the pandemic would have been immeasurably harder without that.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

The Women of Copper Country by Mary Dorian Russell tells the story of Annie Clements, who, in 1913, lead an historic strike against the largest copper mining company at that time up in Calumet, Michigan. I found this story fascinating since my grandma was born (1912) and raised in Copper Country. My great-grandfather worked in the Mines. So it almost felt that this was part of my history even though this was a work of fiction. I throughly enjoyed reading this novel. The characters were strong and unforgettable. Thank you Netgalley for the digital copy of this book in exchange for my review.

What an incredible story! I loved learning about this part of US history and its feminist themes. I loved this book and would recommend to book clubs for discussion.

I was excited to read this book as the time period fascinates me and because I have read some of Russell’s previous work-particularly her duopoly about Doc Holliday. Unfortunately, I found this book slow moving and too elliptical in its telling. Russell is a good writer but she takes her time telling her story. I just did not think it worth the investment.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Mary Doria Russell is one of my favorite authors. Unfortunately, this book is not her best. Of the books I've read, I like Doc and A Thread of Grace the best. The Women of the Copper Country starts out slowly and it took me a while to warm to the character of Annie Clements. At times this book read more like non-fiction than fiction, and a bit dry at that. The true story behind this book is a fascinating one. I'm glad that Mary Doria Russell took it on and I enjoyed reading the book despite some of the dry sections.

At twenty five Anna is known as America's Joan of arc. Thousands of miners strike with her agaisnt a rich powerful copper company. Anna's young sister Maritza is barely fourteen and set to be married. The county fair is 1903 and Anna is made fun of for being tall. James is nearing fifty with children. I liked Anna but wasn't interested in the events

Mary Doria Russell's "The Women of the Copper Country" is a beautifully written novel.
That said, it took me FOREVER to get through it. This was a very slow read for me.

Russell's writing is cinematic; she's an absolutely wonderful story-teller and I believe that this book is going to please many readers who have loved her earlier works. In this thoroughly well researched novel, Russell exposes the brutal demands of the families employed by the copper mining companies in the early twentieth century. Unbearable living conditions, deadly working conditions with little to no payoff, the novel really highlights the disparity between the copper baron and the blue collar working person. I found Annie Clements to be an inspiring heroine and the other women featured were courageous in their pursuit for better conditions. This is a powerful story about the inspiring women who took a stand against a copper mining baron and offers a glimpse into the labor movement of the 20th century.

For some reason, her writing reminds me of Laura Hillenbrand and Kate Moore's. Perfect for the discerning historical fiction reader.
Thank you, Atria books for the free e-galley.

Thank you to the publisher for providing this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This is a solid historical fiction novel on a topic that I did not know much about. It is extremely educational.

This book is about a strike by copper miners in Calumet, Michigan. The strike lasted 9 months in 1913 and 1914 and culminated in a huge tragedy. It is based on a true story, and an actual character Annie Clements who worked to bring the miners into a union and headed the women’s auxiliary of the union. The author did a lot of research into Annie, the strike and the period. Brief mention is made of Hull House, the flu epidemic and a blizzard. The character of Mother Jones, the union activist and feminist, played a small role in the book, but her introduction felt like the recitation of her resume. There was very little about the actual mining operation. I don’t know why the author felt the need to invent two flirtations/romances. Annie was interesting enough as a character without <spoiler>creating an adulterous affair for her. </spoiler> Often when I read historical fiction my interest is piqued enough to make me want to read more about the characters, events or period. However, in this case I think I’ve read all I’m going to about this strike.

It’s probably unfortunate that I read this book the same week that I read “Germinal” by Emile Zola. They shared the theme of struggling miners and a strike. The juxtaposition of the two books did not work to the advantage of “The Women of Copper Country”. While Germinal had a real visceral impact, I didn’t get that from this book. Despite the tragic event near the end of the strike, this book felt like the lite version of the conditions of miners and their families.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Mary Doria Russell. What an wonderful book of historical fiction about amazing women who set out to make right of so many wrongs. I'll admit I wanted to read this book for a couple of reasons - I have visited the copper country of the Upper Peninsula and was interested in its history and Mary Doria Russell is from Northeast Ohio (where I lived for 25 years) and such a wonderful writer! Definitely a 5 star read.

Annie Clements was only 25 when she decided to stand up for the copper miners in Calumet, Michigan. While still having to perform all of her household duties for an abusive husband, she worked to establish a union for better working conditions for the miners. She rallied the Women's Auxiliary into a nationally-recognized fight at the cost of much that was dear to her.

The story of the impossible lives of miners of this age is horrific; families were indebted to the rich bossman for generations. The women's lives were so difficult - I need to remember this when our modern problems seem so hard!

An eye-opening book that is highly recommended!

Annie Clements is fighting for equality and justice in the mining country of Michigan. Too many men and boys have died in the unsafe copper mines that the rich owner will not change. When the Union comes to town she gathers the women and girls in her woman’s auxiliary and they stand up and march. Unfortunately not all goes as planned and there is a great deal of suffering and tragedy ahead for all.
Historical fiction is my favorite genre and I did learn a lot about the mines and the hardships that these miners and their families faced in the early 1900’s. I found the story to be a bit slow at times and I would have liked to have learned more about the fate of Annie Clemente’s at the end of the book.

Thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books and Mary Doria Russell for my copy of her new book: The Women Of The Copper Country.
In July 1913, Annie Clements has had enough, her whole life she has lived in the copper mining town of Calumet Michigan and every day men risk their lives mining copper. Men work under ground, six days a week, in terrible conditions and for 12 hours a day. They struggle to feed, clothe their families and have to buy everything from the company shop. Their wives work hard, cooking, cleaning, looking after children, tending gardens, harvesting food and preserving it for the long harsh winter. They earn extra money by cleaning rich ladies houses, scrubbing floors and taking in washing. Mining is a very dangerous job, men are injured, bones crushed, limbs broken, and are killed everyday. Their wives all hold their breath, when they see the company man walking down the street, he delivers the bad news when a loved husband or son has been injured or killed at work.

One day Annie decides she's had enough, her husband works hard, she takes in washing to earn extra money, they have three boarders and yet she only has enough money to survive.
Annie’s a member of the women's auxiliary, they help families who are struggling and she decides to take matters into her own hands.
The labor movement supports Annie, they start protesting, they decide to take further action and start a strike. Annie is determined to fight for better working hours, shorter shifts, safer working conditions, better pay and health care.
She has no idea she's starting a war against the mines owner James MacNaughton, he's a hard man, he sits in his big fancy house and he has no intention of changing the way his mines are operated.
Annie soon finds herself a target, its risky, dangerous and violent. Her husband doesn't support her, she ends up being arrested and serves time in jail.

The Women Of The Copper County, is a story about one brave woman deciding to take action against injustice, she's had enough of watching the rich get richer while the working class people work hard, they risk their lives everyday and she wants to create a better future for the people living and working in Calumet.

I found the story a little slow in parts, I didn't like the books abrupt ending and I gave it three stars.