A perfect read for the Labor Day weekend!! Pages full of the sacrifices that got us standard work hours, safer working environments, weekends, holidays, Paid Holidays, whistleblower protections. . .the working life we have today is worlds away from what was. . .thanks to those who protested, fought, advocated, funded and raised their voices, and as is shared herein - gave their lives, blood and families to the cause.

Taylor Brown and his Rednecks reminds us of the cause - we the reapers of their labors need constant reminders - we are very quick to forget that what we have came from the hard work and sacrifice of entire generations. His book reminded me of Joe Hill, by Wallace Stegner, about a generation before and all the way across the country. Still the struggle was countrywide. . .as it is yet in some ways. There yet remains many workplace issues to resolve. We need all the Mother Joneses, Franks, Docs and willing workers to articulate, communicate and apply pressure to the wound. . .

*A sincere thank you to Taylor Brown, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.*

Unfortunately, Rednecks by Taylor Brown was really difficult for me to read. The topic is relevant and important, yet I had a hard time tracking the plot. I don't doubt it's a great read for some, but it just didn't do it for me.

This was a very interesting novel about the Battle of Blair Mountain…an event in history I had never heard of! Best part about the book was learning about the coal miners and the real life characters. I loved learning about Mother Jones’ role in this particular event. Dr. Moo, the lovely Lebanese doctor, was based on Brown’s own great grandfather!
Rednecks is very much worth reading and learning about this time in history.
Brown is an excellent author and I am definitely looking forward to reading more of his work!

As a West Virginia native, I was super excited to read this book. My great grandfather worked in the coal mines and lived in a coal camp. However, I’m struggling to finish and realize that I prefer more character driven novels, as opposed to plot driven. I’ve taken a break at the halfway point, but I know at some point I’ll pick it back up and finish. The writing is lyrical, descriptive, and brutally honest. I can tell the author did his research and then some. Short chapters keep the story moving - and there are all kinds of things going on with a variety of characters. This is such an important part of our history that has been overlooked for far too long. Rednecks is a historical fiction book that is timely and necessary. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5. Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the eARC to read and review. All opinions are my own.

I enjoy historical fiction and this one was focused on the 1920 Battle of Blair Mountain, a battle of coal miners against mine owners, state militia, and the US government in the largest labor uprising in American history. Taking place in West Virginia, it was a fascinating read, one that I knew nothing about, and there was a lot of build up to get to the ultimate battle, which was riveting.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the digital copy to review.

Historial fiction that read more like non-fiction. The amount of research the author did is obvious.

Based on real life events and people, the author portrayed the life of coal miners and their families in such a way that I felt like I was there. As a native West Virginia, this book helped put all the facts I have learned about the Coal Wars in context of when and how they happened and the effects they had on all the citizens of West Virginia. Highly recommend reading!

This is a very readable dipiction of a historical evwnt that most people have never heard of. It’s a fictional account of events that happened in Kentucky and Tennessee when coal miners wanted to unionize and how it erupted in a war between the coal mine owner’s thugs and the miners.
At times it got overwhelming to read graphic descriptions of the battles and killings, but it was worth it to learn about this horrible time in our country. It lead me to learn more about Mother Jones, unions and the coal mining industry.

I wanted to read this book because it is about mine strikes in Appalachia in the 1920s. I was expecting history and a family drama, but this was really a war story. The main characters are a miner, his grandmother, and their friend the local doctor. I liked them, but there wasn't enough of them. The book was mostly ambushes, bombs, bloody injuries, shootouts, weapons, and battle scenes. I'm sure some people would find this very exciting - but it just isn't my kind of book.

As a West Virgina implant, this was an enlightening read that made me realize that our 8th grade WV history class and corresponding Golden Horseshoe test had misses opportunities to get us organized. Cheers to the Greta Thunbergs of the world.

What an extremely well-researched and well-written historical fiction.

This tells the story of The Battle of Blair Mountain. It was the second bloodiest battle on American soil since the civil war and I had never heard of it.

The coal miners of West Virginia wanted to join the union and the coal mine bigwigs were dead set against it. The coal miners took to the mountains to fight the hired men of the coal mine kings. Even the military was called in.

Having seen a lot of the abandoned mines while hiking around Southeast Tennessee, I found the story especially heart-breaking and riveting. I can’t even imagine the life these men lead. Well, I can imagine it because the author has presented it in detail. You really feel the determination of these men. You feel the anguish of their wives and children. You feel the arrogance and power of the coal kings.

A fascinating read. This is my first book by Taylor Brown and it will definitely not be my last.

This was a great book. I felt like I was there fighting with them. I wanted to scream at some of the characters. I would definitely recommend this book.

Suppose you review a book by an author and give it a favourable review. In that case, chances are that the author’s publicist will reach out to you with more books by the same author to read. That’s how I’ve now come to read four books by an author of Southern Gothic fiction, Taylor Brown: Gods of Howl Mountain, Pride of Eden, Wingwalkers, and now Rednecks. Like Wingwalkers before it, Rednecks is a work of historical fiction. Set in the years 1920 and ’21, the book covers the “Battle of Blair Mountain” in Western Virginia, where a multi-ethnic army of 10,000 ununionized coal miners was pitted against mine owners and their hired thugs, as well as state militia and even the U.S. government. As Brown is quick to point out, this skirmish that killed dozens of people was not only the most significant labor uprising in American history, but it almost marked the beginning of the Second Civil War. Tactics that miners and mine owner thugs might have learned when fighting overseas in World War I were used in this conflict, and trench warfare was employed on U.S. soil during this incident. And that is something probably most Americans don’t know, as this 100-year-old fight for the right to unionize — which wasn’t enshrined in law until 1933’s New Deal legislation — has been largely swept under the rug. Brown is here to shine a light on the proceedings, and I must say that this is either the best or the worst of his books.

The novel makes the reader feel like they are partaking in a great human injustice as they read of miners being thrown out of their company-owned homes and left to wither in tent shantytowns dotting the treacherous Southern landscape. This is also probably the most violent book I’ve ever read — with blood being spilled on just about every page. (Take that, Stephen King and Blood Meridian.) These two facets of the book can make it either one of tough sledding or white-knuckle excitement. The writing is also lyrical and almost poetic, which is at odds with its impoverished and brutal setting. Rednecks, thus, isn’t your average book. There’s a deep-seated appreciation of history here, with real-life union rabble-rouser Mother Jones a main character in this, even if she’s not given a whole lot to do but sit on the sidelines and wring her hands at the escalating situation. Other characters sometimes are pulled from the author’s own family: Doc Moo (the local doctor) is based on his great-grandfather, and Big Frank — a machine of a Black man who helped lead the insurrection on the miner’s side — is cobbled from two real-life men.

Beyond that, Rednecks is a novel that is tough to write about. One’s enjoyment of this might be based on your empathy for unionization and the time and place in which it is set. It is also a very episodic novel with bursts of action punctuating the text in short chapters — of which there are more than 80 of them. Once you get past the bloodletting and historical aspect of the book, there’s not much to say about it — except that this book certainly has a different feel than some of Brown’s other works. Again, this is a profoundly lyrical work, and the writing comes across as more refined than in Brown’s writing in the past. I would caution readers not to get too invested in some of its main characters, too, as the odd one will not make it to the novel’s conclusion. As noted, this novel is built on gristle and bone. Violence was king in West Virginia in the early 1920s, and you can bet rivers of blood will run, given that a million bullets were shot in this confrontation.

I suppose that I’m on the fence when it comes to this work. I respect Brown and am in awe that he’s made a career out of the genre he writes in, which is not always an easy sell. I appreciate that Brown is trying to spotlight a segment of American history that has been largely forgotten. But I found that, despite all the beatings and shootings that can be found here, there were lulls and stretches where a sharper editor could have done some pruning. While some of the gore is hinted at, and what there is on the page is probably needed to explain just how awful this conflict indeed was (with Americans killing other Americans in large numbers outside of the Civil War), it does get wearing and tiresome that there’s seemingly no end to this brawl in sight throughout the novel. It’s a bloody mess, and Brown makes his point early enough to make one wonder if the story might have worked better as a novella. Still, this is all griping because there is value in this tale not often told. While I can’t help but wonder if Rednecks will probably polarize readers depending on their tolerance for shrapnel bomb victim injuries being described in detail, this is a worthwhile read if you can stomach injustice and carnage in equal measure. This is an important book — perhaps Brown’s most important book – and those who come along for the ride are bound to find something of worth here. For that, I suspect I’ll be approached by a publicist again when Brown publishes his next book. Given the pedigree and solid nature of his writing, I’ll be eternally grateful for that. Rednecksis is not just another Taylor Brown book; it is vital and worth reading to discover the hidden truths of American justice and the imbalance of power. In short, this is worth a try.

I couldn't put this book down. This is the story about the Battle of Blair Mountain, a real event that took place during 1920-1921. It was the largest armed uprising since the American Civil War and the largest labor uprising in United States history. I was shocked that I had never heard of it. These events are real, as are most of the characters.

The author vividly describes how the miners would walk into the belly of the mine, sometimes not even able to stand up, to get to the coal seam they were working on. Dynamite was also used in the mine, to create tunnels. Those tunnels could collapse, and the men trapped could not always be retrieved. The lack of care for the men working in the mine was astonishing. It was evident that the coal was much more important to the mine bosses than the men.

Most of the miners and their families lived in a large camp near the mountain. Some lived in wooden houses and some in tents. They bought food and clothing from the company stores, their only choice. They were perpetually in debt due to low wages and the high cost of everything they bought.

When the miners tried to organize a union to negotiate for safety, better living conditions, and higher wages, the company fought back, promising to fire any worker who joined the union.

I received an e-arc from the publisher St. Martin's Press via NetGalley, and voluntarily read and reviewed this book.

Since my roots are in union organizing of coal miners, albeit in Pennsylvania, not West Virginia, I was very interested in reading Rednecks. This is really good historical fiction, well written about little known parts of US history. The characters are all well-developed, the story both sad and enlightening; This is not my usual read, but I'm glad I read it. I learned a lot.

I learned about a lesser known bit of American History that I didn't learn in school. I'm know looking for other books by this author.

When I saw that Taylor Brown had written a new book, I was onboard after reading several others by this talented author. This historical account is a bit of a departure though still with beautiful storytelling and extensive research. It's an important story of the largest labor uprising in American history taking place in Kentucky surrounding the Appalachian coal mines. Surprisingly I had never heard of this even though I've lived in Kentucky all my 58 years. While I enjoyed learning the history, I was a bit bogged down by the gritty detail of the war itself but I'm appreciative that the story has now come to life. I would recommend this book to native Kentuckians and to history or war buffs but its probably not something everyone would enjoy. My thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Taylor Brown did it again. He breathes life into a time in history, and brings the emotions to the surface as if they just happened. His subject with Rednecks is the West Virginia Mine Wars of 1920-1921. You may have never heard of such a war and that’s what makes this book even more enjoyable. It’s a lazy way to learn about some pivotal moments in our nation’s history that we normally would have never known about. And it’s an indepth look at how hard life was for the mining families, and especially the families struggling to survive the terrain of West Virginia. Thank you Taylor, for another historically entertaining read.
Thanks so much to St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is May 14, 2024.

***In this mix of fictional and fascinating historical elements, Brown crafts a character-driven story of the shocking, widespread, deadly West Virginia Mine Wars and thousands-strong labor uprising that took place in 1920 and 1921.***

In Rednecks, Taylor Brown presents a historical novel centering around the real-life events of the 1920 and 1921 West Virginia Mine Wars. Ranging from the Matewan Massacre through the Battle of Blair Mountain, which pitted 10,000 desperate, fed-up miners against greedy, ruthless coal operators, state militia, and the U.S. government.

Rednecks offers a mix of fictional and real characters in this riveting tale of rebellion and oppressive control--a story of the largest labor uprising in United States history.

Brown unfailingly offers a character-driven tale set in a lushly built setting, with large-scale life-and-death, good-and-evil struggles that he brings to life through rich figures that fascinate and sometimes break your heart.

What brings the book to life are versions of the real-life figures of Mother Jones (the elderly woman once called The Most Dangerous Woman in America) and the sharpshooter Sid Hatfield; and characters like Doc "Moo," a Lebanese-American doctor (inspired by Taylor Brown's great-grandfather); Big Frank, a black World War I veteran fed up with fear and intimidation; and Frank's feisty grandmother Beulah.

The true events that inspired the book are shocking and often read like fiction--the cutthroat, sometimes deadly efforts of coal-company enforcers to subdue rebellion; the years of suffering for thousands of vulnerable mining families; and the hopeless trudge forward in a cycle of poor health, hunger, too-little pay and carefully orchestrated poverty, extremely dangerous work, and, often, death. By the time the uproar and intensive violence that shook West Virginia begin to take shape, Brown has laid the groundwork for the uprising.

Much of Rednecks focuses on the brutal battles that defined the violence of the time, particularly the pivotal Battle of Blair Mountain.

Minor note: Brown explores the origin of the term "rednecks," one that surprised me.

I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

Taylor Brown is also the author of Wingwalkers, The Gods of Howl Mountain, and Fallen Land, a title I loved and included in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories about the Civil War, plus other novels.

This historical novel dramatizes the 1920-21 events of the West Virginia Mine Wars—from the Matewan Massacre through the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest armed conflict on American soil since the Civil War, when some one million rounds were fired, bombs were dropped on Appalachia, and the term “redneck” would come to have an unexpected origin story. Although I was vaguely aware of the labor/union problems in the past, this book really educated me.

There are some excellent characters in the book including Mother Jones, an Irish-born labor organizer once known as "The Most Dangerous Woman in America", Dr. Domit “Doc Moo" Muhanna, a Lebanese-American doctor (inspired by the author’s own great-grandfather), and "Smilin" Sid Hatfield who stood up to the "gun thugs" of the coal companies, becoming a folk hero of the mine wars, to name just a few. I really struggled with this book and found I could only read it in small doses. This is no fault of the book; it was very well written with much historical information. I think I just found it too heartbreaking to read how Americans treated their fellow Americans and how families suffered. All those men dead and for nothing. Or maybe it's because some of those things or variations of them are still happening in that country. To me this book was deserving of 3.5 stars but I debated whether to round up or down. Each reader will need to make their own decision.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press via Netgalley for providing this copy for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Published: May 14, 2024