Never before have I read fictional accounts of the copper minds in the U.P. Not only did the characters show an ability to make change, but they were real people! Refreshing and surprising.

Rating: 4.5 rounded up to 5 striking stars

What a heroine! Maria Doria Russell skillfully breathed life into heroic Annie Clements and thereby wrote a story that was both historically accurate and compelling. ‘Big Annie’ Clements was born and grew tall in the copper mining town of Calumet, Michigan located on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

In November of 1913, at the age of twenty-five, Big Annie has had enough. She is tired of seeing the downtrodden mine workers asked to do more and more dangerous work for less money. She tries to make ends meet by taking in Italian lodgers who work the shift opposite of the shift her husband Joe works. She is continually cooking, cleaning, canning, doing laundry and getting lunches prepared for someone. Even with the extra lodgers, and a strong healthy husband, it is nearly impossible to make ends meet. Forget about getting ahead! She is also tired of brushed off by the union organizers who the miners to wait a little longer before going out on strike.

When another miner is killed in the mine, Annie takes a stand. The majority of the town follows her lead. The miners go on strike. The strike lasts months longer than anticipated. It involves violence, dirty tricks and strikebreakers sent in by the mine manager. The deck is clearly stacked against the workers of the town owned by the Calumet and Hecla mining company and managed with an iron fist by James MacNaughton. He refuses negotiate with the strikers.

As the months drag on, the town starts to lose hope, and more miners, including Annie’s husband, return to the mines. Visits by Mother Jones, and Ella Bloor provide extra cash to the Calumet miner’s strike fund, and raise their spirits. Things look grim. Annie pays a steep personal price physically and emotionally for her continued leadership role in the strike. The last straw was a tragedy that made national headlines.

I just had to read one more chapter, then one more chapter to see how things would turn out with Calumet and Annie. Before I knew it, I was at the end of the book and reading the Author’s Notes which I really enjoyed. Then I had to go find a picture of Big Annie, and read more history about the strike. These were unforgiving times to be a laborer. It makes me thankful for the protections that we do have today. I am also thankful that Maria Doria Russell took the time to write this book. It is a perfect book to recommend to aficionados of Historical Fiction and just darn good writing.

‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, Atria Books; and the author, Mary Doria Russell for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is why I read historical fiction. To be taken back to a time that I don’t truly understand and to learn about the people and events. This can only happen when the author combines excellent research with an ability to tell a story in a lucid, interesting and inspiring way. Mary Doria Russell has certainly accomplished this and The Women of the Copper Country is definitely one of my favorite books of the year.

The setting for this novel is the company town of Calumet Michigan, site of a major copper mine. What happens during this novel is the butting of heads of a fledgling union and entrenched management. We see all that happens through multiple participants, miners, their families, union organizers, company men, management, newsmen.

Through information provided in the afterword, we learn how much of this book is, or is very close to, fact. And that is a lot. I was unfamiliar with this particular history and wondered a bit as I read, but there is such an air of authenticity and authority that I felt comfortable. And most of us of a certain age have heard something of Mother Jones! I had never heard of Annie Clements before. I now would like to know as much as possible about the real woman. This would be an excellent novel for high school students, perhaps, to excite them about the past and how it influences our present and the future. For issues of workers’ rights vs owners’ overwhelming wealth continue.

A definite 5* and highly recommended.

A copy of this book was provided by Atria Books through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I received an advanced e-copy of this book from NetGalley in exchanged for an honest review. I am still reading the book, but am really enjoying it! I grew up in Michigan so was attracted to the setting and love that it was based off a true story. It tells the story of Annie Clemenc, also known as "Big Annie" who was a labor activist in Calumet, Michigan in the early 20th Century. This would be a great book for anyone that enjoys historical fiction and stories with strong female protagonists. I would love to read more about the real story of Big Annie now!

Why do we not know about these people and events? As I encountered such tragic and pivotal episodes in the history of American culture and economics, I found myself repeatedly saying, “This should be in our history books.” With brilliantly crafted images, Russell does a masterful job of creating the depth of character and the pathos that the 1913 Michigan copper mine strikers and their families deserve. She states that “by 1920, [it] was forgotten by the world beyond Copper Country.” As cliche as it seems, we who have forgotten this history seem to be doomed to repeat it as the gap between the classes in the United States continues to widen. Alongside books such as Bell’s Out of this Furnace, The Women of Copper Country is timely and important reading for our day.

I love when a book, either fiction or non-fiction, has strong women doing courageous things and helping one another. This is a perfect example. And a really interesting story to boot.

Absolutely enjoyed reading this book. A book that i really didn't want to end! I rarely write what the story is about as i do prefer one to read the book for themselves, but i do highly recommend. Loved the cover, which initially drew my attention to this book. It is the first time that i have read a book by this author and know it will not be the last.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review, freely given.

Absolutely terrific read! If you, like me, are a little vague on the ins and outs of the labor movement and personalities in the early 1900s, you won't be by the end of this amazing novel based on a year in the life of Annie Clements, who led the strike by copper miners in the company town of Calumet, Michigan. She is almost an inadvertent heroine, a woman who expected to live the way her parents did until there's just one death too many. Annie bonds with the union leader and Michael, a photographer who has come to cover the strike. She becomes the symbol of the resistance, leading a parade and carrying an American flag every morning. At the same time, James MacNaughton, who manages the mine, is one of the most evil men you can imagine. Heartless. These characters, and others such as Eva, a young orphan, are wonderfully drawn. Mother Jones and Ella Bloor both make cameos (I was less familiar with the latter and found myself googling her) as do other real individuals. The conditions under which the miners worked, the violence against the union families, and the Italian Hall tragedy are all graphically described but in a somewhat detached way= it is the reaction of the coroner and the company man and so on which will make you sit up again. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This will teach you the cost of copper. I can't recommend it highly enough for fans of historical fiction.

Anna Klobuchar Clemenc (or Clements) was known as “Big Annie” but also received the moniker of America’s Joan of Arc for her leadership with the Women’s Auxiliary No. 15 of the Western Federation of Miners during the months long strike in Calumet, Michigan of 1913-14 in the area they called Copper Country. This difficult strike was one where union workers were trying to get better pay, shorter hours, safer work conditions, and a five-day work-week was already failing when the Italian Hall disaster hit the town. This Christmas party disaster left 57 people dead, mostly children. This was probably the incident that Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes had in mind when he said in 1919, “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.” [Emphasis mine] This book is Annie’s story about this fateful time in Michigan history, that far too many have forgotten.

Okay, so… this is an extremely important story, and one that is very timely – at least for me, that’s how it feels. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this is a whole lot more than just a work of biographical, historical fiction because the things that these people lived through are an example of the levels of extreme harm that callous greed can have on poor, working people. Sure, of course, it was over a century ago that the backbreaking and dangerous work of miners earned them a measly two dollars a day for 12 hours of work, six days a week. Although this isn’t today’s reality, that doesn’t mean we can’t see how capitalistic industry, when not regulated to ensure the health and safety of their employees, and not held accountable regarding fair wages and kept in check regarding corporate greed is no less harmful today. One could almost say that this is almost the blueprint for a dystopian story of what could happen all over again in the future, if we aren’t vigilant.

Furthermore, the mining industry at the time was probably so profitable because a vast majority of the workers were immigrants, of whom employers could easily take advantage. Russell describes a community where the xenophobia and racism runs rampant under the guidance and leadership of the James MacNaughton, the President and Director General of the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company. Russell portrays him as a super-villain, which history backs up in full. As an antagonist for the story, he was just there, ripe for the picking, and I think that Russell used him perfectly. The amount of disgust readers will feel for this man will not be hyperbolic in the least. However, a little googling showed that his power and influence was even more expansive than Russell depicts.

This only proves that Annie’s fight in leading this strike, although doomed from the start (at least in the short term), was even more courageous than we can imagine. Russell’s portrait of Annie is so intricate and intimate, that we feel we’re right there beside her, even though the whole story is told in third person omnipresent. Furthermore, Russell brings this same artistry and depth to both some fictional and semi-fictional characters to round out the story. The major semi-fictional one is Jack, the son of the real-life Solomon Kivisto, who was the last miner to die before the strike. Another is Eva, the young daughter of a miner who also died in the mines, and Russell builds a relationship for them, despite their very young ages (about 15). In fact, Eva’s youth, combined with the ultimate downfall of the town, is what allows Russell to imbue this book with a note of hope, despite all of the hopelessness that came beforehand. Mind you, the last four or five pages of this novel in which the focus shifts away from Annie and onto Eva were a touch too detailed for my taste, and could have been shortened by about half without sacrificing anything. That, however, is my only niggle for this novel, and as you can see, it is extremely minor.

Now, I’ve been holding WAY back with this review because I have to say that reading this was an emotional roller-coaster for me, in the best possible way, and I’ve only touched on the very smallest tip of the iceberg here. Within the first 20% of the book, I was already in tears, and that’s when Annie had just started the strike. From there, Russell builds up the whole vista of this community, with its varied members from across the globe, until we can see every aspect of this town. We can almost taste the tang of unfamiliar foods, feel the bite of cold or weight of heat on our skins, and smell the telltale acrid scent of the copper that they pulled out of the depths of the land with their sweat, and which they paid for with their blood. Then, when Russell gets to the Italian Hall incident, I was bawling like a baby (and I’m tearing up now, just writing about it).

For this amazingly told, heartbreaking story of “Big Annie” there is no doubt in my mind that I must wholeheartedly, and strongly recommend it with an unequivocal, and full five out of five stars. This is a very important book, not only because we need to learn about Annie, but for all the lessons we can (and should) learn from her struggles and this unfortunate strike. Please read this novel. You’ll not regret it; of that I am totally certain.

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.

“This is the price of copper,” she says in that clear, quiet voice. “A dead man. Every week. Month after month. Year after year.”

Long-respected author Mary Doria Russell’s latest work of historical fiction is an eye-opening look into the early days of the copper industry’s budding unions and upheaval due in part to brutal conditions, senseless deaths and extremely long working hours for little pay.

Labor activist Anna Klobuchar Clements “Big Annie”, a tall woman at 6 ft 2 and president of the Women’s Auxiliary of Local 15, the Western Federation of Miners takes center stage. Anna is passionate and a driving force to be reckoned with in Michigan’s Copper County 9-month strike. She has made a lot of men angry. Russell’s meticulous research and deep dive into Anna’s life as tireless organizer of the ‘union sisters’ amidst the turbulence of the industrial revolution is very well done.

*will post in online venues and add link below upon publication date.

Anna “Big Annie” Klobuchar Clemenc (Clements), was born (1888) and raised in Calumet, Michigan. She became known for her courage and leadership in the Copper Country mining strike in Calumet in 1913. Tired of losing family members and friends to dangerous and difficult working conditions in the underground copper mines, Annie instigated a strike and organized a women’s auxiliary which not only supported the strike but the strikers and their families.

Author Mary Doria Russell skillfully depicts the conditions and hardships in Calumet which led to the strike as well as throughout the duration of the strike. The story is told through the eyes of a number of characters – from the hard-hearted corporate mining company tycoon to various immigrant workers and a small group of characters close to Annie.

Russell brings a strong background in cultural and social anthropology, as well as the skills of a story teller, to her writing. The result, <i>The Women of the Cooper Country<i/> is a fine example of historical fiction. It gives a compelling view of this slice of American history through fact-based events and details including well known figures of the labor movement, Mother Jones, Ella Bloor, and Jane Addams, and the role of women in affecting change. It also gives a good sense of the times by personalizing everyday events and tragedies, the home life and relationships but most of all the emotions- grief, hope, despair, and courage.

After a slow build of background and details, the pace quickens and I found it difficult to put the book aside. This was a great reminder of this segment of our history and I look forward to reading more of Russell’s work.



FYI - I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved 'The Women of the Copper Country. Our story takes place in Calumet, Upper Peninsula, Northern Michigan, from July 1913 through the spring of 1914. Calumet is a company town housing 40,000 residents and owned in its entirety, homes, churches, stores and community buildings, by the sole local employer, Calumet & Hecla mining company. The mine had been worked for over half a century by this company, the surface copper ore cleared out long ago and the mine now very deep.

Miners and their families rented their home, paid C&H for the coal used to heat that home 8 or 9 months of the year, hauled water from a company well and purchased all they needed from shoes to groceries and household goods to candles and work-related clothing and supplies from the company store. Any traveling to and from the town they did had to be on the company train. The last thing C&H and their efficient - and heartless -manager James MacNaughton wanted in Calumet was a union. They liked their employees isolated from the world, the news, and other miners. Adding to that physical isolation felt by all of the residents of Calumet was the fact that it was peopled by refugees with 33 different native languages - Swedes, Finns, Danes, Norwegians, Poles, Russians, Czechs, and Italians, etc., many who had no common language with their co-workers and neighbors. Occasionally even a husband and wife didn't share a common language. Scho0ling for the children didn't include much in the way of language arts except what the family chose to teach them at home but persons who could read were not rare. There were books but often not in a language that was useful. Those with more than one language were often called upon to translate.
In most families, the girls were married by 14 or 15 and the boys were in the mine beside or replacing their fathers even younger. When a miner died on the job - and one a week did just that - their family was immediately homeless and without any sort of support. Many boys had no choice but to take their father's place at the mine to support their families.

The Union was interested in helping the miners at the C&H copper mine, but the timing was bad. The world was on the verge of war. The open-pit copper mines in Arizona and Montana were keeping the price of copper lower than C&H was comfortable with as the Calumet mine was very deep therefore it required more expense to bring the ore up. Betting on the war, they had been stockpiling copper for months, waiting for the price to increase significantly. It would be many many months before a strike would affect the stockholders of C&H. And the community was dirt poor - most wouldn't have enough set back to miss a paycheck for more than a week or two, to pay the rent and feed the children. But the Union hadn't counted on the drive and enthusiasm of Big Annie.

You're going to love Big Annie, twenty-five and with no quit button. Her husband was opposed to the union on general principles, a taciturn man without many saving graces. Though they had been married about ten years, they had no children, so Annie Klobuchar Clements was 'mother' to those without one of their own. Everyone in Calumet knew her- at six foot three inches she was hard to miss- and most adored her. And we get to spend time with Mother Jones, Ella Bloor, and Jane Addams, more women who don't quit.

And you are going to love Big Annie's 'kids', her friends, her 'family'. It is remarkable what she and that community, calling themselves the Woman's Auxiliary of the Western Federation of Miners, can accomplish when push comes to shove.

And you are going to appreciate Charlie Miller, representing the Western Federation of Miners. And Michael Sweeney, the freelance photographer who brings their story to the world. And there are times you are going to weep.

This is a story that needed to be told. Mary Doria Russell in her Notes tells us what is based on fact, and what is the compilation of several persons, and who is a gift from her imagination. I am very much pleased to recommend this historical novel to friends and family. Ms. Russell is an author I am grateful to have 'met' and will follow. Her way with a story is exhilarating.

I received a free electronic copy of this historical novel from Netgalley, Mary Doria Russell, and Atria Books. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.

Thanks so much to Atria Books and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy of Mary Doria Russell’s latest novel. Ms. Russell has definitely done it again. I was immediately swept up in a history I knew nothing about and characters I cared about. The chance to be educated and entertained at the same time is one of the most magical things about reading and this historical fiction hits the mark. I would give this 4 stars (only because it didn’t end the way I was hoping, but that’s life), rounded up to 5. Definitely recommend.

Having visited Copper Country some years ago, steeped in its history of mining, excessive wealth, dirt poverty, and tragedy, my interest in this title was highly piqued. And oh, what a story this one was!

Author Mary Doria Russell delivers a rich telling of the people, place and time of 1913 Calumet, Michigan - the heart of Michigan's Keewenaw Peninsula and the richest Michigan city, in its day. Copper mining made it so rich, that back in 1890, the state capital almost moved there.

It's 1913. The winds of war are beginning to brew in Europe. Germany is flexing its muscles and the world's industrialists are smelling great revenue opportunities - none more so than the copper producers. Copper is a vital component in the brass casings of bullets and artillery shells and it clads the hulls of warships. The Calumet and Hecla Mining Company has positioned itself well to fill those military orders. It considers itself to be a forward thinking and enlightened company. Heck, it even provides clubhouses, bowling alleys, and a library with materials in 20 languages to the miners and their families. It even matches the miners' contributions to the employee aid fund. (Of course, very view miners can even make that first payment given how little they make in the mine of the company town in which they live.)

The copper veins of the Keewenaw run deep beneath the ground. Every day, miners descend deep under the earth's surface and are grateful each day in which they can walk out of it. Meanwhile, the surface mines of the West are applying pressure on C&H's profitability and a one-man drill is born. Sure, it weighs 150 lbs and can only be wielded by the strongest miner but it allows management to cut the employee roster way back. The Miners' Union is against this new method as it forces miners to work alone thus increasing safety risk. It also takes away a lot of jobs of the dues paying members.

In walks Big Annie, Anna Klobuchar Clements, a larger than life woman (after all, she's of Finnish stock and over six feet tall). She is married to a miner. She's fiercely compassionate for the miners', their wives, widows and children. Following yet another death from the mines, she and her Women's Auxiliary of the Western Federation of Miners, Local 15, have had enough. It's time that H&C treat their employees fairly and improve work conditions - accept an 8-hour instead of 12-hour workday from each miner; 5 instead of 6-day work week, provide minimum wages, and improve the safety of each mine. Thus the famous strike of all mines in the Michigan Copper Country by the Western Federation of Miners was called in July, 2013 and Big Annie was out in front to lead it. At this point, this rich story takes off and the reader is in for quite a ride.

Ms. Russell has deftly produced a well written and an extremely well researched narrative of the mining life of the early 20th century. Many of the characters of the story are real people of history - Big Annie, Mary Harris Jones (known as "Mother Jones"), Ella Boor, Governor Woodbridge Ferris, and James MacNaughton - the heartless General Manager of H&C. Within her author's notes, she clearly shares where in the story she has created some characters to facilitate the flow of the story. She also provides references for the reader's further historical research.

All in all, this was an excellent piece of historical fiction and definitely worth reading. I look forward to Ms. Russell's other books, already of much renown.

I am grateful to Ms. Russell and Atria Books of Simon and Schuster for having provided a free advance, uncorrected reader's proof of this book through NetGalley. Their generosity, however, did not influence this review - the words of which are mine alone.

Ask anyone who has ever lived with, or seen, the struggles of mining towns and the people who work in them, and you’ll see that the dangers, horrible conditions and poverty is never far behind: even now with improvements and safety regulations. But in the early 1900’s with the demand for Copper, Coal, Gold and other mined items, miners were often subjected to harsh conditions without safety regulations while their women were left above ground scrabbling for ‘extra work’ to make ends meet. Children were often in the mines, health and worker’s rights were unheard of, and those who sought to organize for safety, better wages, better conditions and opportunities were silenced, some violently.

Enter Annie Clements, twenty-five in 1913, she’s lived her entire life under the auspices of the mining company bosses: seen the hardships, dangers and deprivations first-hand, and has decided that enough is enough. Despite her husband’s displeasure with her increasing independence, her refusal to not be heard, and her determination to improve the lot of the families and the workers in the small town of Calumet, she soldiers on – heedless of the dangers to herself, aware of (and a bit in awe too) of other female organizers like Mother Jones, and faced with choices that pit love and freedom against what she knows to be right – she’s indomitable and a force to be reckoned with.

Russell brings Annie to life and light, showing both her determination and the challenges, as well as her own doubts when it seems that everyone is unable (or unwilling) to praise her efforts, despite the end result being an improvement for them all. In a time when the current thought doesn’t lead us to much “organizational acknowledgement” for women beyond suffragettes and abstinence, the inclusion of women flocking to Annie’s cause with money, publicity and suggested courses of action, as well as a solid sense of support through the challenges she will meet are strong and show the early pitfalls and challenges to those looking to secure worker’s rights, safety and some sort of family security in times that were unstable at best, with companies interested only in their own profits and not the labor which made them possible.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-aus/” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>

If the words on the page find a niche in your heart, it deserves all the stars.......

Mary Doria Russell has a sharp skilled, fine-tuned talent to capture the angst, the sorrow, the despair of the mining families clustered around the copper mines of Calumet, Michigan in 1913. It is a desperate life for the men who leave the freshness of nature above ground to enter into her pits of unspeakable darkness below ground. It is an equally difficult life for the wives and the families who wait at day's end for the sound of their footsteps entering dimmed doorways.....or possibly not.

Russell presents the character of Annie Klobuchar Clements in such a raw, human way that the reader feels a deep connection from the onset. "Big Annie" as she is called by friends and neighbors, is beyond tall at over six feet in height. She had always been self-conscious as she towered over everyone. But fate brought her Joe Clements who met Annie eye-to-eye even though he was twelve years older. Annie dutifully cooked, cleaned, and packed adequate lunches for Joe every day.

The copper mine was located on Kewanee Peninsula along Lake Superior and was manned by Poles, Czechs, Swedes, Russians, and the like who spoke over 30 different languages. Men worked twelve hour days under precarious conditions. Russell introduces us to James MacNaughton, manager of Hecla Mining Company. She paints him with dark, absolutely no sunshine, colors. If the man had a soul, it would be found only with a high-powered microscope. We'll see him in action throughout the story.

As conditions worsen, Annie finds herself more and more involved with the daily activities at the mine much to Joe's chagrin. She becomes president of the Women's Auxiliary of Western Federation of Miners Local 15. Annie is the go-to person for everything now.

MacNaughton's unfairness and cruelty forces the miners to go on strike. The impact of that decision will be felt throughout the pages as Russell takes you into the midst of this turmoil. As the situation tightens and becomes knotted and knotted, the families take on the painful brunt of no work and no pay. Violence sets foot in Calumet and it takes its deadly toll.

The Women of Copper Country sets the tone for the voices of those who leaned hard into almost impossible odds in order to cut into this rugged land of America. The backbones of these individuals formed the steps of which led to better working conditions for those who came after them. In reflection, such supreme sacrifice appears to be a word found only in the pages of the past.

I received this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Simon & Schuster (Atria Books) for and to the talented Mary Doria Russell for the opportunity.

Thank you to Net Galley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Although I have a few Mary Doria Russell novels on my bookshelves, The Women of the Copper Country was my first foray into her work. I started this book when we left Myrtle Beach to return home to PA, and besides a few bathroom breaks, I didn’t put this book down until I finished it halfway through Virginia. I loved this novel of Big Annie Clements and how she fought for the rights of copper miners, even though she didn’t have the full support of her husband. My only complaint was that there wasn’t enough background on how Annie became the leader of the strike, but I know it had to do with her imposing size and strong personality. I enjoyed this book far more than I had expected to, which means Russell’s previous works have moved to the top of my TBR pile.

I loved this book. This book is what I love about historical fiction. It took the history of what happened and added in characters.

This is about the copper mining town of Calumet Michigan. It was perhaps better than the typical company town, some thought of it as “Paris of the North”, but the town was still ruled by the big copper mine, Calumet & Hecla Mining Company. When one more man died, on top of the company’s push for one man drills, instead of the two-man drills, the women have had enough. They call for organizing a union, they call for a strike. What they didn’t count on was the mine’s manager James MacNaughton who would not negotiate, no matter what.
It was James MacNaughton vs. Big Annie, America’s Joan of Arc, Mrs. Annie Schwartz, and all the women and children, and many miners.

It was a fascinating, well told history that has been fictionalized. Highly recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria books for a digital galley in exchange for an honest review.

It's a working man I am
And I've been down under ground
And I swear to God if I ever see the sun
Or for any length of time
I can hold it in my mind
I never again will go down under ground "Working Man" Rita McNeil 1990

I wasn't in a huge hurry to get to my August arcs, but then I read a few reviews of this one and was all about making it a priority. Once again, I have discovered a book that is a contender for best book of 2019.

Set in early 20th century Michigan, Mary Dora Russell introduces readers to the struggles of the union movement against the copper mining industry and the intriguing story of one of its leaders, Big Annie Klobuchar Clements aka "America's Joan of Arc." Annie and the other women who have watched their fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers become casualties in the mining companies one man drill operation either by losing their lives or permanently disabled have had enough. In 1913, they push for a union strike and while the smaller companies are willing to give into worker demands, one particular mining boss refuses to back down. As the months pass, there will be many trials, tribulations and tragedies along the way.

A few decades later than this story, my maternal grandfather was a miner and thankfully he nor any of the men he worked with were seriously injured or lost their lives during his lengthy career. But having learned much about mining in both Canada and the United States, there's no doubt that it's a dangerous industry especially when business overlooks the safety of the workers.

Mary Dora Russell's novel is a good reminder of what the miners and their families had to do in order to have better working conditions. This novel is well written, researched, and with the inclusion of the Italian Hall tragedy of 1913, a heartbreaking and powerful story. An important part of American history that shouldn't be overlooked!


Expected publication 06/08/19
Goodreads Review published 04/07/19