I don't know how I feel about this book. It started off very strong for me because I immediately liked both Annie and Eva, and found McNaughton easy to hate. (I mean he really is just the worst!) The switches between POVs was done seamlessly and it was easy reading but somewhere along the line it stagnated for me. Looking back on it, the beginning and end are stronger than the middle which lagged. There were many characters introduced that subtracted from the two people I wanted to hear from most, particularly Annie who seems to fade into the background though she's a main character (if not THE protagonist).

Without Annie to hold it down or a strong series of plot events to push it along, I lost interest and wasn't really emotionally invested anymore. That's not to say all was lost. The events in the latter half are absolutely heart wrenching but I'd be lying if I said I liked the ending. That's the thing with historical fiction that clings closer to the history than the fiction. Sometimes the end isn't what we wanted. However, I would have liked the author to take some license to fill in the blanks as to what happens to the main characters, even if it's fictional. All in all, I'd recommend this one to historical fiction fans who like the fiction to be on the lighter side and anyone interested in labor history in the United States. I liked it so 4 stars from me!

Note: I received a free Kindle edition of this book via NetGalley in exchange for the honest review above. I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher Atria Books, and the author Mary Doria Russell for the opportunity to do so.

3.5 Stars

The Women of Copper Country is a carefully researched historical fiction about the copper country labour strike of 1913 -1914 and that research really shines through here in the telling of this story. So much so it felt like a history lesson to me and it lacked the emotional depth to the story I love so much.

I loved the strength and bravery to the women in this story. They took a stand for what they believed in and sacrificed for the future.

The pace is bleak and was not an easy one for me with the telling over the showing of the story. Mary Doria Russell pays attention to detail here with the characters and the story and it just became a little too tedious for me. At times the tone did switch to more of an emotional feel to it for me and I began to feel some emotional connection to the characters. The voices of the women were so powerful and I felt chills reading it.

I am in the minority here with my thoughts and my friends here on GR got so much more out of it then I did. It's an important and powerful story that needs to be told and remembered. It was just too much telling for this emotional and busy reader. I still highly recommend

I received this book for free from Netgalley. This did not influence my review.

Painful and powerful, The Women of Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell is engrossing historical fiction. Set in Calumet, Michigan, during the copper mine strikes of 1913, the novel follows the labor leader Big Annie Clements, a twenty-five-year-old woman whose father died in the copper mines and who married a miner because she knew nothing else. Annie has grown tired of watching the men in her community sicken and die in the mines while their wives struggle to raise families on too little pay and less security. When men are injured or killed on the job, their families are out on the street unless they find a family member or friend to take them in.

The mines are incredibly dangerous, especially given the long hours the men work and the introduction of the single-operator drill dubbed “the widow-maker.”

The union is beginning to make inroads, but acting too slowly for Annie. After one particularly gruesome death, Annie leads the women in an effort to convince the men to strike. The outside union organizers feel she jumped the gun. There’s not enough money in the strike fund and the percentage of union members among the miners is not high enough to guarantee support. Yet Annie forges ahead, gaining support, gaining newspaper coverage, and impressing the nation with her fierce determination.

The other side of the coin is James MacNaughton, the local manager of the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company. Presented as so coldly despicable he seems inhuman, he is representative of a type that is all too real. Greedy, self-important, convinced of his own superiority and entitlement, he is utterly devoid of compassion for the men and women suffering in the mining community. MacNaughton knows his company has the resources to wait out the strike. When it lasts long enough to truly inconvenience him, he brings in strike-breakers who unleash violence with tragic consequences.

The book is inspiring and yet, devastating. It’s impossible not to be caught up in Annie’s struggle and to root for her success. At the same time, I kept thinking “this is not going to end well.”

This type of realistic historical fiction is hard to read because it highlights how terribly people treat one another and reinforces how consistently the bad guys still win. However, it also shines a light on the heroes and heroines who fight for justice. It isn’t hard to see which side of the fight is the right one.

The Women of Copper County was a very distinct time piece. The characters had strong personalities and the dialogue stepped out of the 1913’s. I enjoyed the storyline, appreciated the historical point of view. This was a very dense read. I would love to read it when I have more time to dive into this specific chapter of history.

I thoroughly enjoyed this absorbing and really interesting historical novel. Although I don’t claim that it is particularly “literary” it is nevertheless good old-fashioned storytelling from a master storyteller, and I found it a real page-turner. It’s a carefully researched account of the now largely forgotten Copper Country strike of 1913-14 led by a remarkable woman, sometimes called America’s Joan of Arc, Annie Clements, who was propelled by the terrible conditions faced daily by the copper miners of Calumet, Michigan to take on the mine owners, an unequal struggle from the outset, but one which Annie was determined to win. Pace, plotting, tension and descriptions are all excellent. The characterisation less so, with rather cardboard cut-out heroes and villains and a full range of rather stereotypical characters, but overall the story itself is so interesting that I could forgive this, and I was carried along by the narrative drive.
As a side note, Arlo Guthrie commemorated the strike in “1913 Massacre”, and can be heard on YouTube.

I did not particularly like this one very much.. It just didn't grab my attention like most books do.

The author, Mary Doria Russell writes a very informative book taking place in the copper-mining town of Calumet, Michigan from June 1913 through mid 1914.
This is a very well researched book.
Calumet was a very poor area, men worked sun up til sun down in the mines crippling their backs and getting black lung. What other choice did they have, money was so scarce they barely had they pennies to feed their children .
With the dissatisfaction of mining conditions the women of Calumet, led by Annie, who becomes our Joan of Arc, take a stand for the miners they back them up but at what cost?
This book is just amazing the strength of the women to stand up for what is right especially Annie who forms The Women’s Auxiliary of the Western Federation of Miners.
The book also covers a Christmas Eve accident resulting in the death of many children, which is a real tragedy.
Though fiction the author is able to express the sorrow and despair of this long ago time.
I will be reading more books by this author.
Published August 6th 2019 by Atria Books
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

" ...A good day in the mine is a day when nobody gets killed or crippled. Or if somebody does, at least, its's not you...'" This was the harsh reality of the miners in 1913 Camulet, Michigan. Twenty-five-year-old Annie Collins saw first hand the hardships that men underwent daily from her childhood with her father and later husband. The men risked their lives daily to earn meagre salaries and to put food on the table while the mining companies make incredible profits. When she and fellow women decided to stand up for the miners, the miners rally behind her to seek change for the greater good. However, the change that they seek will come at a great cost..

Ms Russell transports the reader back to the beginning of the 20th century and paints a powerful picture of the early labour and trade union movement in America. She does not shy away from immigration issues as the vast number of men who worked underground where mostly European immigrants seeking better lives for themselves and their families. Issues that are still relevant in today's America and world. She delightfully uses quotes from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to title the chapters which give them a poignant touch.

The Women of the Copper Country should be snagged for a limited edition TV series or movie. I am looking forward to reading more work from Mary Doria Russell

I have heard so much about this author before going into this book and maybe my expectations were a little on the high side, so this book didn't work for me, but it could totally be me! To warn I can't avoid spoilers in this review, so beware!

It is 1913 and in a copper mining town in Michigan and Annie Clements is known to be a large woman and when she decides to become a part of the fight for the union she becomes even bigger - a symbol.

The forming of the union and the fight against a large company was very interesting. I was waiting the whole book for an incident to happen in the mine and it didn't! Instead it happens at a party and it was very hard to read and for me sent the book in a different direction that I didn't completely love. I understand that this historical fact, but the build up for me just didn't seem to work with the ending.

Russell's writing was good, but for me didn't seem outstanding compared to the rave reviews I had heard before reading the book. This book didn't stand out as a historical fiction book that I would set above any of the others.

Mary Doria Russell is one of those rare authors who can make genre her playground. Readers may recognize her as the author of the science fiction novel The Sparrow or the fittingly titled Doc Holiday murder mystery, Doc. But in her newest release, The Women of the Copper Country, Russell narrows in her wide field of vision on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The copper mining town of Calumet is where the meat of this historical novel takes place. It lies in the Western region of the Upper Peninsula, where native copper is plentiful on the shores of Lake Superior. In 1913, the hugely profitable Calumet & Hecla Mining Company employed tens of thousands of primarily immigrant laborers to mine this land for the valuable resource. The work was extremely dangerous; multiple funerals per month were not only common, but practically expected.

Though it seems unfathomable today, the pay for this work was outrageously low considering the risk involved. When Calumet & Hecla began demanding workers further put their lives into jeopardy with one-man drills, a cost-cutting solo operation that left the worker without a partner and thus enough hands to both do the job and protect himself from harm, it was the last straw for the miners of Calumet.

Russell has her characters observe how improbable a strike felt in those days. As the mine workers were immigrants from all different parts of the world, language barriers kept them from developing the type of community bond necessary to first organize a strike, and then keep it going. But Calumet had a unique unifying force that allowed them to cross these cultural barriers, and she was six foot two and Slovenian.

Anna Klobuchar Clemenc, known commonly as “Big Annie,” was the president of the local Women's Auxiliary, and in this book she may as well be the woman of the Copper Country. The fictional Big Annie is described by another pivotal character as being “built like the statue of Lady Liberty in New York Harbor and five times prettier,” and is an equally imposing figure as her real-life counterpart. In order to get the multilingual community of copper miners to unify, she taps into her nearly endless supply of empathy, rolls up her sleeves, and starts by appealing to the wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters of the laborers:

“Rich men like James MacNaughton believe they've climbed to the peak of a pyramid,” she says. “But that's not where they are. They're at the bottom of a spinning top. Shift the weight, girls, and over it goes!

The strikers' demands of the company and its stone cold regional manager James MacNaughton are nothing more than what someone today would expect to receive in the workplace: “Recognition of the union for collective bargaining. A decent living wage...an eight-hour day, five days a week. Improvements in mine safety – and an end to the one-man drill.” Yet the company shows no signs of negotiation, let alone capitulation. They may not know it at the start, but the union will be doomed to face many hardships in their quest for worker's rights.

Over the course of this novel, we see this struggle play out with every chapter being led with a snippet from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Our opposing forces, our Capulets and Montegues, are the workers and the owners caught up in the age-old capitalist struggle. But Mary Doria Russell demonstrates her skill in the way she makes what otherwise may be a textbook dialectical struggle into something personal and homegrown.

Many different characters in this situation get their turn in the narrative driver's seat: Annie's temperamental husband Joe, an orphaned girl who looks up to Big Annie, a photographer covering the strike, the unyielding suit James MacNaughton, amongst others. This allows the reader to get a well-rounded view of this tug-of-war. It is this personal touch that assists the modern audience in understanding how and why the harsh tactics of the company were so effective by first making clear the vulnerable position of the workers and their families.

The writing makes her approach all the more successful. Her prose is appropriately simplistic, but rich with nuance. By cutting down on the window dressing, Russell is able to focus in on characterization through dialogue and body language which represents her true authorial muscle. Nearly every conversation is a loaded one and close readers will be rewarded for an attention to detail, especially when minor characters burst onto the scene to either throw a wrench into the union's plans or to provide moral and financial assistance:

She leans over the table and whispers fiercely, “Do you know what really brought young Joan of Arc to that stake in the end? They burned her because that girl succeeded, if only for a little while, where all those fine, noble aristocratic generals had failed...Well here's the truth of it. There is never a good time to strike. The odds are always with the house.”

But since we are so laser-focused on the people of this story, a noticeable stumbling point in the portrayal of Calumet & Hecla manager James MacNaughton begins to stand out. Though his tactics are true to the history books and the villain shoes fit, his demeanor is far more robotic and efficiency-obsessed than felt realistic. Though he is a Social Darwinist, his inherent sense of entitlement didn't go deep enough and his rage against the workers disrupting his finely-tuned system never felt appropriately intense.

Even with that minor infraction, this book is a triumph. Big Annie's heart is as big as she is tall and readers will fall in love with her dedication to making things better for future generations. Inspirational moments are abundant as Annie and other characters appeal to the workers' desire for a better life. Astutely researched, the writing of this book was clearly a labor of love for the author. She stays true to the heart of this lesser-known part of American history while tweaking just enough to give it the momentum and power it needed to make a compelling story.

Isn't it wonderful when you choose a book for entertainment and it delivers so much more?   Such was the case with <b>The Women of the Copper Country</b> by Mary Doria Russell.   This marvellous historical fiction made me think.    It made me question my own actions and motivations in the workplace today.  It had me Googling, and it helped me understand why Mary Doria Russell is such a highly acclaimed author.     In this novel she breathed new life into characters drawn from the pages of history books.   She brought fresh relevance to long forgotten events.    And yes indeed she educated and entertained me.

When we first encountered James MacNaughton he seemed like a self assured but reasonable man.   He was a husband, a father and was responsible for running the Calumet mines and all the infrastrucure of this town.  In his mind he  goes above and beyond in providing for his workers, ensuring they have the best possible facilities.   In this first encounter I thought he seemed fair but my views soon changed.

When we encounter Annie "Big Annie" Klobuchar Clemenc  (aka Annie Clements) in June 1913 she's a compassionate young woman at the end of her tether.    Having always lived in Calumet, Michigan she knows only too well the harsh conditions of the mines.   Her father, her husband, her neighbours and friends all head underground day afer day, night after night, to complete their 12 hour shift six days a week.   For this they earn $2 per day.    Without fail, every week there's a fatality or life changing injury and Annie's decided enough is enough.     She engages the women and children of Calumet to hold peaceful parades, agitating for change.  

The story is essentially about the stand off between the unionists and the business men.   We are taken behind the scenes to see this from all angles.    The men and women of the community whether strikers, scabs, shop keepers or hired help in the employ of the MacNaughtons.   We also get the law enforcers, politicians, strike breakers, union leaders, journalists and photographers perspectives.     We're shown the doggedness on both sides.     But this was not some dry business tome.   It was a human interest story.   It was hard to read at times and yet I didn't want to stop reading at any point.   It moved me through a range of emotions from sadness to anger, at times fear, hope and despair, and despite the topic even some happiness.  

When I read these kinds of books I'm filled with admiration for the people who choose to take a stand.      Invariably I wonder how I would behave in this situation and almost always find myself lacking.  I'm fairly sure I'd be one of those company cowards,   content with my lot,  possibly even grateful for things as they are even though they're far from perfect.  Workers in the 21st Century have a lot to thank people like Annie Clements, Mother Jones and Ella Bloor.  Readers have lot to thank for authors such as Mary Doria Russell for making us aware of their stories.

My sincere thanks to the author for her wonderful work, to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review which it was my pleasure to provide.

THE WOMEN OF THE COPPER COUNTRY by Mary Doria Russell (The Sparrow) offers a fictionalized account of an actual miners' strike from 1913-1914 in Calumet, Michigan on the Upper Peninsula. Here, real life Anna Klobuchar Clemenc (called Annie Clements in the novel) heads the local Women's Auxiliary No. 15 of the Western Federation of Miners and supports efforts by workers to unionize for better conditions. At the time, James MacNaughton was President and General Manager of the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company; he is portrayed as bigoted ("how long, he wonders, before the entire American workforce is undermined and replaced by nihilists and hoodlums?") and more concerned about efficiency than safety or personal relationships. It is a classic confrontation and there is much hardship for the miners and their families, including the infamous Italian Hall disaster where over seventy adults and children died in a stampede. The content of THE WOMEN OF THE COPPER COUNTRY is moving and some Junior Theme researchers might find this book inspirational if they are looking at labor unrest and strikes in the United States, but Russell's choice of an omniscient point of view makes the characters seem distant to me. Russell should be acknowledged for her efforts to chronicle the story of a strong woman whose courage has been largely forgotten despite Clemenc being inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.

5 ☆ The Women of the Copper Country, my first novel by Mary Doris Russell, is a fascinating and emotional well-researched piece of US history I feel very fortunate to have come across. It’s storyline set in 1913 and 1914 follows Annie Clements, called Big Annie due to her tallness, and Eva an orphan, both living in the copper mining town of Calumet, Michigan. Photo-journalist Michael Sweeney also played an important role by releasing his photos making the world aware of Annie Clements fight for miners rights. Journalists began referring to Annie as the Joan of Arc of America. The copper miners themselves were immigrants from a vast mix of cultures speaking 32 different languages. These miners worked a grueling 12 hour day 6 days a week for very little money in dangerous conditions (death was common). They had little food to feed their families and lived in squalor inside derelict homes owned by the mining company.

Big Annie (married to a non-Union miner) seeks new change, becoming the leader of the 1913 strike asking for an 8 hour day 5 days a week, higher pay and safer working conditions. Corporate greed ran rampant in Copper Country; the villain in this story is James MacNaughton CEO of Calumet & Hecla Mining Company. He went to great lengths to stop the strike by contracting strikebreakers who used destruction and death to intimidate striking miners. He even had the local authorities in his back-pocket.

This book brings to light the plight of miners at the largest copper mining operation in the US, the birth of organized unions, and the role women played in this process. I was given much insight into a part of our history I’ve never known about. Ms Russell’s story will pull on your heartstrings. I was in tears reading the Italian Hall disaster chapters, is so terribly sad it will break your heart.

There’s fascinating nuggets of information in this one book. I loved the pieces of real history tied in to the storyline and appreciate the countless research Mary Doris Russell put into writing this book. Highly recommend.

Much thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for a digital ARC.

I was disappointed by this title, as I'd had it recommended by a friend and it also had fans on GoodReads. I read the first 150 pages, and decided it was time to give up. The historical moment being portrayed here is fascinating, but the writing itself is too "surface" level. We don't (at least not by page 150) really get inside of the characters in any significant way. We're told about them, but that isn't the same as experiencing them. I wish this book had either gone further as a work of fiction or that it had been a work of nonfiction, where the "this happened, this happened, this happened" structure could work more effectively.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review; the opinions are my own.

Mary Doria Russell writes about a wildcat strike in Calumet, Michigan in 1913 and 1914; Calumet was a town that was seeing the copper industry boom. It is a story of greed and the story of labor and its fight to give the working man a life that is beyond the basics of survival. For fans of historical fiction or anyone who loves heroes and heroines engaged in Goliathan battles, Russell delivers an amazing story that will have you researching the history just because you have fallen in love with the characters.

James MacNaughton is the general manager of the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company, an inflexible man of strong habits who has taken the elements of managing the copper mines as the blueprint by which he also runs his home. He doesn’t know the names of the cook, butler, or maids, but he knows what they’re supposed to be doing and when. MacNaughton thinks the workforce at the mine has deteriorated as Swedes, Danes, Finns, and other immigrants have arrived, no longer grateful to have a job, a nice company home to live in, and a company story where they can spend their hard earned dollars. Instead, they complain about conditions underground and want a reduction in their twelve hour, six days a week working life. He has little idea about the reality of the miner’s working lives, about what conditions are really like underground. MacNaughton’s life purpose is to give the stockholders profit.

Annie has been married to Joe Clement for seven years, he was one of the few her equal in height (she’s six feet two inches tall); now she’s twenty-five and there have been no children. A life tied to the mine is the only one that Annie has ever known. Her father had been a union organizer, and the truth is that Annie has never known if he died in a cave-in or was beaten to death by those opposed to his union activities. Known as ‘Big Annie’, her days are filled with work from sun-up to sun-down. Now they have boarders, the Giannelli brothers, three of them, whose uncle had died in the mines by the time they arrived in Calumet. Annie will prepare pasties for the four men to eat while underground, as well as their other meals.

Every week seems to bring a death in the mines. If a husband, brother, or son is late coming off their shift, a tragic accident immediately comes to the mind of those who wait. The latest death, the death of Solomon Kivisto, a Finn, will galvanize the community to action, and Annie, the president of the Women’s Auxiliary No. 15 of the Western Federation of Miners is one of the instigators of a wildcat strike. The men have become more and more upset about the one-man drill which leaves one man working alone with no-one to go for help or even know if he becomes injured. He could lay there injured, or dying, for hours, before anyone would know. Charlie Miller, a man with experience in mines, has come to Calumet as a union organizer. Charlie thinks they need to collect funds and wait a couple of years before going on strike, but Sol’s death, concerns over the one-man drill, and Annie’s well-oiled Woman’s Auxiliary feed into a volcano that erupts.

Annie is a heroine I can get behind. A firm believer in community and the spirit of improving the life of the common people, she is an extraordinary leader. She knows how to rouse the hearts and minds as well as organize food and clothing drives. I love how she comes to life under Russell’s pen. I feel so proud when I visualize her at the head of her parade of protestors, bearing the American flag. Her fellow protestors are women who have buried husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers. The price of the copper that has come out of the mines is the life of their lost beloved. For the powerful and wealthy, the miners’ labor has brought them more power, more wealth. For those bloodied and dead, it translates into bending, bowing, working more for less.

Because I was so engaged with Annie, I was happy when she met, Michael Sweeney, a photographer who showcases Annie in newspapers around the country. Sweeney wants to give the strike a face, as well as a voice. Sweeney believes that we always know what the rich and powerful are thinking, why shouldn’t we know and care about what is happening to the miners? As he studies Annie’s face behind his camera, as well as in the developing photographs, he begins to feel more for her. Sweeney also makes me aware of the purity of journalism and photo-journalism’s vision, of getting to the bare bones of a story without regard for power and prestige.

Russell accomplishes so much with this novel, showing the lives of so many that are affected by the copper mines, all while keeping the company general manager, MacNaughton, close at hand, and allowing me to hate him for the powerlessness he engenders in those that feed the company its wealth. He is a true villain (and yet undeniably human) with many modern counterparts. As a reader, Russell kept me present and attentive. I kept wanting to google everything and learn how it turned out (I was unfamiliar with the history). The suspense of not knowing was killing me. But I didn’t let myself do it and I’m glad I didn’t, glad I let it unfold just as Russell has written it, a beautiful and extremely sad story, masterfully written, one of America’s grueling labor sagas. Highly recommended!

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest opinion. Many thanks to Simon & Schuster (Atria Books) and Mary Doria Russell.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/42201959

A flag of courage

I found this an interesting period in history and one which I have never heard much about. The book brings to life the story of a copper miners' strike in a small Michigan mining town.

The characters in the book are most vividly described and believable. While reading the book I was totally engrossed to the point I felt in the middle of the actions taking place. I can still picture big Anna with the large flagpole in a white dress leading the striker's parade with Eva at her side.

I especially liked the character of big Anna, Michael and Eva. I loathed the character of Mr. McNaughton while knowing that men such as this do indeed live amongst us. Big Anna was determined and courageous , Eva was sweet and spunky, and Michael made me laugh. Mother Jones was inspiring and Mrs. Bloor was a colorful character with a big heart. Mr. Glass put himself and his business at risk to help the striker's and to help Anna.

What I found the most interesting is that the women of the town did the most to promote the Union and the strike for better wages and working conditions for their husbands and families. The miners themselves participated for the most part at the insistence of their wives.

It was heartwarming to read how the Union families supported each other through the strike although a town of immigrants with several different languages being spoken. The women stuck together and made sure that everyone was fed and clothed and the dead buried.

The Christmas Eve event at the Italian Hall building was the saddest part of the story. The way it was handled by Mr. McNaughton the general manager of the mining company was deplorable.

One if my favorite parts in the book was when all of Mr. McNaughton's hired help all quit all at once on Christmas Eve. This small tidbit was karma at its best.

The book was well written and grabbed the essence of the period in history. It was interesting, informative, funny, sad, tragic and heartwarming all in one book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and would definitely recommend it to others.

I found this book slightly hard to follow at the beginning, only because it introduces many characters very quickly. However, Mary Doria Russell did a fantastic job of bringing these characters to life and weaving together a complete story through multiple eyes. You follow the women of a Michigan copper mining town through a strike that is fighting for better wages, hours, and working conditions in the copper mines. I found parts of it horrifying, gloomy, lovely, heartwarming, and sad. But it is a fictionalized look into a real piece of history and brings to life the lives of the people and how mining and striking affected them. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book!

*Many thanks to Mary Doria Russell, Atria Books and Netgalley for ARC in exchange fir my honest review.*
This was my first novel by Ms Russell, and undoubtedly, I am going to read her other books. Why? I was blown away by her writing style and the character development. This is no thriller but the story of the copper miners' strike was unputdowable for me, and when I had to stop reading, I was with Big Annie and with all those copper miners who received no respect for their hard work.
The novel is based on real events which took place in 1913-1914, and bringing them back in this formidable novel pays tribute to all those who wanted just decent life, appreciation on the part of the employers, and dignity.
This novel is an example of historical fiction at its best. Thank you, Ms Russell, for all the emotions you stirred in me ........

Annie Clements is a badass union warrior, nearly six feet tall with fiery red hair and a voice that carries. When the men that work the Quincy mine strike for better wages, an eight hour day, and an end to the treacherous one man drill, Big Annie leads the women’s auxiliary, and her role makes headlines around the world. This magnificent novel, which holds closely to events as they unfurled, came to me free and early, thanks to Atria Books and Net Galley. It’s for sale right now.

The Quincy mine is owned by Calumet and Hecla, and it is one of the deepest underground—and therefore one of the most dangerous—in the US. It’s on the upper peninsula of Michigan, an isolated location closer to Canada than to other states or even the rest of Michigan; the winters are fierce. The only thing crueler than winter there is the heart of the general manager, James McNaughton, a vicious, vindictive man, who vows that “Grass will grow in the streets of Calumet before C&H recognizes the Western Federation of Miners.”

Charlie Miller is our union organizer, traveling from camp to camp, gathering support from working families. He intends to attack the smaller, more outlying mining companies first and save the huge, wealthy ones like Calumet for after inroads have been made around them. But miners are angry about the one man drill, a recent change that saves the company on wages, but leaves a single miner at risk of being injured or buried without a second miner present to help get him out of there. The company won’t send workers in after the injured, so working in pairs is a critical part of what little safety exists. Too many have gone home dead or maimed, and emotion is high. The women’s auxiliary organizes the wives and other family members of miners, and the women are rising up as well. Miller doesn’t see a strike as winnable right now, but if the union doesn’t get behind them soon, it may well become a wild cat strike, one in which the workers strike without union backing; that would embarrass the WFM.

Russell combines beautifully woven prose with careful attention to historical detail; not much has been changed here, but in her end notes she explains what has been altered and why. Where possible she uses direct quotes, and this is above and beyond what most novelists will do.

Although the story is about Big Annie Clements, my favorite part is when Mother Jones comes to Calumet. (Those interested in labor history should also read Mother Jones’s autobiography, which is shorter and better than what any biographer has done for her.)

This is the first time I have read Russell’s work, but it won’t be the last. A measure of how much I love a book can be found in how much I read, quote, and carry on about it right here at home. My husband could scarcely enter a room without my demanding whether we have any other materials about the copper strikers, and does he know about (this, that, the other thing)? I was reading ten different books, but he was hearing about only one of them.

Finally, readers should also know that this is a tragic read, positively miserable in places. There are dead and dying children, and the ending isn’t heartwarming. Yet it contains elements—an unlikely romance, and in James McNaughton, a villain of monstrous proportions—that could not be written into a purely fictional tale because nobody would believe them; and yet, these are aspects that stick closely to historical reality.

For those that love excellent historical fiction, this is a must read. For those that love both historical fiction and labor history, it provides the sweetest of crossroads. Highly recommended.

3.5
Few people outside of Michigan know anything about our Upper Penninsula (UP). As a matter of fact, a recent Mt. Dew ad featuring a map of America drew Michigander's ire when the UP was colored to be part of Wisconsin!

The UP has its own peninsula jutting into the deep inland ocean of Lake Superior, the Kewanee Penninsula. And a short distance from the top of that arm is Calumet, Michigan. Today it is a village of about 800 people. But in the late 19th c when the UP was a center of copper mining there were 40,000 souls there.

The copper was mined for 120 years. It was break-backing, dangerous work. Waves of immigrants found their way to Michigan's lumber and mining industries. The UP was particularly attractive to immigrants from Finland but drew from across Europe. These unskilled laborers were put to use with a sledgehammer and shovel, and cheaper than mules, used to push the loaded cars.

Mary Doria Russell's new novel The Women of the Cooper Country recreates Calumet in 1913 in rich detail, drawing on actual people and events.

Called the Paris of the North, Calumet had grown into a modern town, built by the wealth from the Calumet & Hecla copper mine. But profit-driven capitalism meant management rejected worker's demands for a shorter workday, a living wage, and safe work conditions. A new drill allowed a miner to work alone instead of in pairs. It was cost-saving but put the men at higher risk.

The workers debated unionizing. An unusual labor leader arose, Annie Klobuar Clements, a miner's wife born in Calumet to Slovakian immigrants. She had seen too many families with maimed men and boys, too many funerals.

What is the price of copper? It was men's limbs and lives. It was men too tired to live, self-medicating with drink. It was widows and orphaned children. If the men would not organize, the women would lead the way.

Journalists made Annie the Joan of Arc of America.

Annie is helped by Eva, who over the nine months of the strike grows from a dreamy girl to a woman. Nationally known union organizers come to help, including 'the miner's angel' Mother Jones and the Socialist labor organizer Ella Bloor.

The mine is under the management of John McNaughton, and Russell's portrait of him as a cold-hearted capitalist fixated on the bottom line is chilling. McNaughton is a xenophobe whos anti-immigrant slant hardens his heart even more. In his view, Europe is gleefully exporting its 'wretched refuse' to America, and Washington has done nothing to stop the continual labor strikes across the nation. It won't happen here, he vows.

The novel had a slow start for me but picked up later. At times, I felt some distance from the events. A critical scene is off-screen when the emotional impact would have been greater through Annie's eyes. The story builds to a horrendous tragedy, describing a real event, with great emotional impact.

The changing role of women and their broadening choices is shown through the characters. And there is romance, from infatuation and unhappy marriages to illicit affairs and true love.

It was interesting to learn more about this slice of Michigan history and the history of unionizing in Michigan.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.