Coal River
In 2015, it would be unthinkable to send a child into the coal mines. But in 1912, America was a different place. It was a country without unions; it was a time when “breaker boys,” boys as young as seven, would remove impurities from coal, all day long, with their bare hands.
Emma, 19, lives with her actor parents in New York. Apart from the accidental death of her brother years earlier, she is relatively content. But her world is shattered when her parents are killed, and her choices are to go to the poorhouse or to move in with her aunt and uncle in their small Pennsylvania coal town.
From the start, Emma is treated as a servant and forced to turn over her wages to her greedy aunt and uncle, who is a foreman at the mines. Working at the company store, Emma begins to realize how impoverished the citizens really are, and how the cruel coal mine bosses control their lives. She begins to anonymously help the families by stealing food from her aunt’s house and leaving it at the doors of the coal mine families. As her aunt and uncle begin to tighten their grip, she begins to make plans to escape. But her compassion for the people, especially the young breaker boys, her desire to set things right, and her visions of a boy who is the spitting image of her deceased brother bring her plans to a crashing halt.
The book is intense and heartbreaking at times, but full of hope. The author’s impeccable research into this era makes for a spot-on portrayal of a dark time in American history. Coal River has made my list of one of the most “unputdownable” books of 2015.
