Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Okay, so this is an adventure novel about labor rights. Yes, seriously, and I'm here for it! Set in 1909 in Spokane (the author's home town), we follow the orphaned, homeless brothers Gig (23) and Rye (16) Dolan who have to fend for themselves as laborers and get involved in the free speech riots that were connected to the rising industrialization and the plight of the workers who, through unionizing and solidarity movements, aimed to gather strength and push for better conditions and pay. Full disclosure: As a German with French ancestors who lives right at the French border, so someone who grew up taking strong unions and regular strikes for granted, I've always felt like the US union system was kind of weak (no offense), especially in comparison to France. It seems like in the US, the myth that everyone can make it puts poor workers to shame, while here, 45 minutes from Karl Marx' home town, the system as such is more readily questioned.

This is why I was particularly excited to read about the American labor movement. Walter incorporates real historical characters into his fictional tale, like Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, and, very suiting considering the main topic, gives various people he shows the chance to speak from their perspectives, no matter whether the world around them would qualify them as influential or not. His writing is very colorful and flows naturally, which, I suppose, makes this novel also highly readable for people who picked this one up solely to get a captivating story and are usually no stans when it comes to political texts.

Apparently, the novel is based on stories the author heard from his grandfather who, as a young man, was hopping freight trains to find farm jobs during the Depression, much like the Dolan brothers. And the talent for engaging storytelling seems to run in the family, as Walter is an expert when it comes on setting scenes and controlling the construction of the multi-voiced plot. As far as engaging historical novels with a broad, cinematic appeal go, this is top notch.

This is the first time I've read a novel by Jess Walter and I will definitely be exploring his back catalogue. I knew nothing about this period of American history and found this to be a stunning portrayal of the era. The author brings to life the characters and portrays a time of social unrest and great inequality that resonates and has parallels with US society today. Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC.

A captivating, swaggering literary novel about the American battle for unionism and workers' rights in the cruel hard times of the early Twentieth Century, "The Cold Millions" showcases Jess Walter at his scintillating peak. Channeling E. L. Doctorow, he focuses on Spokane in the northwest, on two brothers at the rough edge of capitalism, one passionate about the Wobblies (the International Workers of the World), the other one younger and protective of his sibling. Careening events put them in the path of a fascinating, sinister tycoon and police thugs and assassins, and ally them with a female socialist firebrand. Jess Walter, like Doctorow, seamlessly plonks the small pawns of the world amongst real-life, outsized makers of history, and he seems capable of writing from the point of view of all the protagonists and antagonists. Roughhouse America springs to life in his scenes and the plot propels and surprises. All in all, The Cold Millions is a triumph and a hell of a fine read.

Spokane, Washington in 1909, a town that is flourishing but the lines are drawn between rich and poor. The Dolan bothers are itinerant orphans, scaping a living where they can. Rye is only sixteen and longs for security, a job and a home, Gig is older and fuelled by a passion for justice. When the authorities in Spokane decide to clamp down on the unions Rye and Gig are in the middle and their lives will be completely altered.
I found this book absolutely wonderful, a fictionalised account of lives in a tough time but with real-life characters woven in as well. The plot is complex and involves several narrators but is relatively straight to follow and the emotions are beautifully imagined. This is a story about the American Dream and the difficult way that some achieve it and many don't.

The writing in this book is breathtaking, I often had to reread sentences to appreciate them.
This is a beautiful coming of age, historical book. Charming and lyrical and difficult not to enjoy. A different book from what I usually read, but I'm so glad to have tried it.

“All people, except this rich cream, living and scraping and fighting and dying, and for what, nothing, the cold millions with no chance in this world.”

The Cold Millions is a sweeping historical novel set at the beginning of the labor union movement in Spokane, Washington, focusing on two brothers, Gregory and Ryan Dolan. At 21, Gig is a charming, surprisingly articulate young man, Rye, only 16, is his brother’s shadow. Orphaned, they have joined the mass of itinerant workers, tramps riding the freight trains in search of work where they can find it. While Rye’s one wish is simple - a job, a home, a family; Gig gets wrapped up in the energy and chaos of the Free Speech Riots as The Industrial Workers of the World, aka Wobblies, fight for change. When the brothers are arrested during a riot, their paths diverge. While Gig endures a brutal incarceration, Rye is quickly released and is determined to free his brother. Soon he too is bound up in the cause, and is courted by a man set on stopping it.

Told with acumen, compassion, wit, and a hint of nostalgia, this story is ambitious in scope. Walter explores a dramatic period of social change and its issues - wealth vs poverty, ownership vs labour, rights vs responsibilities, nationalists vs immigrants, arguments that have still not been resolved in the US a century later. Yet this is also a coming-of-age story, an intimate tale of brotherhood, love, friendship, loyalty and betrayal, and even a murder mystery.

While Rye is the story’s anchor, there is a large cast of characters. Walter draws real historical figures into the novel including Police Chief John T. Sullivan who was a strict enforcer of law, and a vigorous defender of Spokane against the Wobblies, and their activities; the ‘redoubtable, estimable, formidable’ Elizabeth Gurley Flynn a young activist and orator, and takes inspiration from others to create a distinct, colourful cast. Brief vignettes from the perspectives of people who cross paths with the brothers interrupt the linear narrative, but also enrich it.

I feel Walters has been influenced by several classic American novels, particularly those by John Steinbeck, and perhaps Mark Twain and others, with similarities found in themes and characters.

While I don’t feel the connection with the history in the way an American might, The Cold Millions is an entertaining, fascinating, and unexpectedly timely novel.

It's definitely me and not you, THE COLD MILLIONS.

I didn't know what it was about this novel that didn't pull me in, until I read the acknowledgements in the back. Jess Walter thanks Anthony Doerr (author of ALL THE LIGHTS WE CANNOT SEE) for his tips and feedback on the book. That's when it clicked, the issues I had with his book were the same I had with Walter's.

Everything about the story is actually potentially really good. The characters, the political plot, the setting in 1900's USA, even the harsh story and no non-sense killings and deaths are all potentially fantastic. I keep saying potentially, because it just didn't work for me.

I think this book will receive rave reviews. People will fall in love with the Dolan brothers, especially little Rye has a lot going for him. People will enjoy the political plot where a young woman is trying to rally the workers together to ask for better conditions on the work floor and more equality in life. People might actually read a bit of Tolstoy's WAR AND PEACE in the pages of this book.

The baddies in the form of police and "nobility" have their own struggles. No one can be blamed for how things unfold or everyone can be blamed. It's up to you.

I'm giving this book 2.5 stars, because I recognise good writing when I see it. I wish I had put the novel down halfway because it didn't work for me, but that's just me.

My tip: if you enjoyed books like the aforementioned ALL THE LIGHTS WE CANNOT SEE and DAYS WITHOUT END (which I actually did enjoy) you might really enjoy this novel.

<i>“All people, except this rich cream, living and scraping and fighting and dying, and for what, nothing, the cold millions with no chance in this world.”</i>

The Cold Millions is an interesting fictionalised account of the Spokane free speech fights in early twentieth century America and of the horrific police brutality which met the socialist protestors. Two brothers, Gig and Rye Dolan, are itinerant workers trying to make a few pennies and becoming involved in the nascent trade union movement. The story is mainly told from the teenage Rye’s point of view, with interspersed chapters from other individual characters who fight with, for or against him. It’s a hard life for most in this society with a huge gap between the wealthy few and the many struggling to make ends meet.

This period of US history is one that I knew very little about and I’m pleased that I read this book to fill in the gap just a bit. There are worthwhile reflections to be had on the present day struggles which are still ongoing for the rights of the many against the vested interests of the powerful few. A recommended read.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

If this isn’t a total adventure then I’m lost! What a whirlwind of a journey and the places and characters are so bright and shiny, I couldn’t look up from the page.

"In the days after Gig left, Rye began to see that he was living in a particular moment in history.

Maybe this was obvious to other people, but it had never occurred to him. It was a strange, unwieldy thought, like opening a book and seeing yourself in its pages. Seemingly unrelated events— meeting Early Reston at the river that day, the free speech riot, Ursula the Great taking him to meet Lem Brand, traveling with Gurley Flynn, smuggling her story out to Seattle, maybe even Gig’s disappearance—these moments seemed linked, like events leading up to a war. And he supposed that was what they were in, a war— this skirmish between the IWW and the city was part of a larger battle fought in a thousand places, between company and labor, between rich and poor, between forces and sides he wasn’t sure he had understood before.

Part of this new perspective came from the fact that Rye was trying to read War and Peace in the evenings"

This sprawling novel manages to be simultaneously:

An adventure/action book combining elements of the late-Western and early Detective/crime genres;

An examination of a fascinating point in US history, in the years immediately prior to World War I as the battle for American labour rights took place – with the role of the International Workers of the World (the Wobblies) trying to establish a more radical and broad based representation of workers rights than the more conventional trade and industry based skilled craft unions;

A fictionalisation of a real event – the Spokane Free Speech fight – a David and Goliath story of how a small group of radical, socialist activists attempt to mobilise itinerant workers/tramps and an underground press against industrial bosses, corrupt authorities and labour organisations more interested in exploiting the workforce – with anarchists looking to use the opportunity to push for more radical changes;

A study of a remarkable figure – Elizabeth Gurley Flynn – perhaps seen as an early 20th Century Greta Thunberg albeit with a rather more cavalier approach to risking her own personal health and safety – and that of her unborn baby - in direct action;

A coming-of-age story of a younger brother caught up in a series of events and with a cast of characters with much deeper repercussions and motivations than his own simple focus on survival and the next day – some of whom (like Flynn) inspire him but many of whom (including it has to be said Flynn) exploit his naiveite – this character (Rye) is effectively the main third party point of view character for the main linear part of the narrative;

A book with a sweeping cast of remarkable and memorable characters – including: a ruthless Scottish-descended agency detective turned murderer-for-hire; a good looking down and out (Rye’s brother) with a penchant for alcohol, women and a half-volume of War and Peace; a vaudeville performer whose act culminates in a live mountain lion eating her bustier; a Spokane Indian with a penchant for storytelling and for laughter but with a hidden family-secret; a mysterious character who at different times seems an assassin/ a down-and-out/a double-agent/a provocateur aiming to prevent any de-escalation/an anarchist terrorist. Many of these characters (but very pointedly not the last) have their backstories told in separate first party sections which effectively break up the linear narrative – although which later serve to continue and expand it from other points of view. One of my questions on the book would be why a fictional Rye rather than a fictionalised Elizabeth is not the main character – but I think this is addressed in Elizabeth’s own first party section where she comments frequently on how the courts and authorities automatically assume there is a man or men “pulling my strings” and perhaps the author felt this would be too much like appropriation;

A partial retelling of “War and Peace” – with Rye explicitly drawing on elements of that sprawling novel as analogies for understanding what he sees around him

An examination of wealth divides at a time when a huge rise in American industry had lead to a massive divide between a group of the newly super-rich and their exploited and unregulated labor force – one of the pivotal parts of the book is when Rye visits the house of the local industrial magnate and conscious of his brother’s much loved half-copy of “War and Peace” is physically shocked when the magnates library contains an unopened and unread full set (see my closing quote)

An analogy for 2020 – just as one example, Rye’s brother Gregory is known as Gig – a very obvious link between the world of unregulated labour of the early 1910s and that of 110 years later with the Gig economy; a second (which has struck me forcefully in the week I read this book) is respectable Americans using the “threat” of “socialism” as a justification for turning a blind eye to dark deeds

Overall though I found it a very enjoyable and particularly worthwhile read - if very different from my normal literary fare.

"It was too much. All of it, too much, and Rye cried at the too- muchness of it. This incredible room of books—how he wished Gig could spend a single day in such a room, two stories of leather and gilt volumes and a heated floor and brandy so sweet and rich it coated your insides. The thought of his bookish brother in that stone jail while he was here—it was all just too much.

The unfairness hit Rye not like sweet brandy but like a side ache…. he never could have imagined it, either. But now he knew, and he would know the next time he was curled up in a cold boxcar, that men lived like this, that there was such a difference between Lem Brand and him that Brand should live here and Rye nowhere.

He flushed with sadness, as if every moment of his life were occurring all at once—his sister dying in childbirth, his mother squirming in that one-room op, poor Danny sliding between wet logs, Gig in jail, and Jules dead—and how many more? All people, except this rich cream, living and scraping and fighting and dying, and for what, nothing, the cold millions with no chance in this world"

It's fascinating to see a U.S. author tackling class, the labour movement, unions and social injustice as these topics don't seem to have the same purchase on the American literary imagination as they do in Europe (exceptions, of course, for writers like Steinbeck). The writing is smooth and fluent, if not 'literary', and the storytelling involving - until, that it, it goes off into one of many digressions that leads away from the main plot. I can see why this is done: to widen the scope of the story and give an epic, wide-screen effect - but sadly the effect is a loss of momentum in the storytelling. Still, an engrossing historical plot that speaks to some of the present social inequalities that haunt the world.

I won't review this book. I read about 30 pages to get an impression of it and it iis a bit too straightforward for my liking. It will however be a great book for many readers and I ordered a good amount of this title for our store. I hope it will sell well, especially during the Christmas period.

This is a faulty review copy - the "f"s are all missing, in some cases other letters too "fi" for example of "fl". This makes it unreadable. I do want to read this book and would happily review it if this was a usable review copy but I can't read it as it is - this reads like utter gibberish. Sort it out guys.

Set in the nascent labour movement in America, in Spokane during the Wobblie riots (IWW) early in the nineteenth century the story includes the character of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, the female emancipist who comes to Spokane and meets the fictional Ryan brothers, Gig and Rye. The story includes many elements concerning the corruption of the police force, the struggles of the out of work labourers and how public opinion viewed labour movements and women suffragists (especially young, married, pregnant ones).

I was initially very disappointed with how the story was written - the first third seemed very disjointed and while the reader could easily follow what was happening, the change of narrator just interrupted the flow (although they seemed to have a common thread which I won't spoil by highlighting here!). However, once we got into the stride, the story moved along well and was an interesting read. The description of Gurley's experience in gaol was particularly poignant. Some of the minor characters, like Willard and the police chief, were not what the reader was being led to expect and it was interesting to see them develop.

Overall an interesting read, but perhaps not quite what I was expecting and not presented in the most fluid manner.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin General UK - Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, Penguin Life, Penguin Business and Viking for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.