Anywhere but Schuylkill
by Michael Dunn
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Pub Date Apr 30 2024 | Archive Date Jul 01 2024
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Description
In 1877, twenty Irish coal miners were hanged for a terrorist conspiracy that never occurred.
Anywhere But Schuylkill is the story of one who escaped, Mike Doyle, a teenager trying to keep his family alive during the worst depression the nation has ever faced. Banks and railroads are going under. Children are dying of hunger. The Reading Railroad has slashed wages and hired Pinkerton spies to infiltrate the miners' union. And there is a sectarian war between rival gangs. But none of this compares with the threat at home.
Advance Praise
"In the tradition of Upton Sinclair and Jack London, Michael Dunn gives us a gritty portrait of working-class life and activism during one of the most violent eras in U.S. labor history. Anywhere but Schuylkill is a social novel built out of passion and the textures of historical research. It is both a tale of 1870s labor unrest and a tale for the inequalities and injustices of the twenty-first century."
-Russ Castronovo, author of Beautiful Democracy and Propaganda 1776.
"Michael Dunn has created the characters that bring the 19th Century's Mine Wars to life for today's readers. Anywhere but Schuylkill will remind readers of John Sayles and Tillie Olsen and the best in the long tradition of labor literature."
-James Tracy, co-author of Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels, and Black Power: Interracial Solidarity in 1960s-70s New Left Organizing
"The Banshees of Inisherin and 1917 are two of the best historical films I've seen in recent years, particularly the cinematography. Yet the visuals Michael Dunn creates in Anywhere But Schuylkill, are richer, more vivid, more imaginative, and more haunting and indelible than what I recall in those brilliant films. It's like the author transports himself to each scene and brings to life each physical detail, each expression, each emotion, and each word of dialogue with the care of a Renaissance painter."
-David Aretha, award-winning author of Malala Yousafzai and the Girls of Pakistan, and Martin Luther King Jr. and the 1963 March on Washington.
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9781962465458 |
| PRICE | $4.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 393 |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Christine B, Reviewer
A great novel! On the one hand, the storyline is very interesting as well as informative as to life around and in the coal mines; on the other hand, the plot is thrilling and full of tension! Indeed, trying to get improvement on salaries and life conditions can lead to much violence within the families and outside... How can you judge someone who does not want to take part in a strike, when it means no money for food? How can you just accept the abject conditions of working and living? The story revolves around these themes, and to even more violence and disputes among the ones fighting.... The end is however a bit of a cliff hanger! Is there maybe a book 2? Nevertheless, I really enjoyed it!
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I am leaving voluntarily an honest review.
Kenzie S, Reviewer
Anywhere But Schuylkill was a fast paced book that kept me turning the page wanting to know what happens next. I had no idea about the Avondale Mine disaster despite growing up in the area. The book had a good mix between fiction and history, i wish mike got a happy ending but i think the ending he got was more realistic.
Susan F, Reviewer
I received a copy of this novel from the author and Historian Press through NetGalley. This is my own unsolicited opinion. In all honesty, this is more and less than I expected. It was more vivid in description, heartbreaking in the reality of what an oppressive life the coal miners and children fought to survive through. It is intense. When I say less, the full story wasn't there yet from the blurb about innocent miners being executed. I finally understood there is more to be written.
In the 1880's after the civil war life was far different from what we know today. It was heartbreaking in the coal mine country of Pennsylvania. Hopeless. Yet this incredible people; men, women and children trudged forward day after day. Author Michael Dunn paints the dark picture, fills the lungs with coal dust and the screams of the next child to lose a limb.
It's an incredible, well written story. It reflects a reality that is hard to take at times. Definitely gritty and raw. It's not romantic or pretty.
Characters involved in strikes after wage cuts, terrible work conditions, police violence, spies and managerial abuse are written to tell their stories. The author does a great job leaving himself behind.
Important mentions:
Pinkertons (Gave me an eye-opening insight)
Molly Maguires Ancient Order of Hiberians
Workingman's Benevolent Association 1868 (one of the nation's first industrial unions)
There may be triggers for some readers, horrendous abuse, offensive language, sexual innuendo and violence.
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