Coal River by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Coal River by Ellen Marie Wiseman – 304 pages

ARC courtesy of author

Book Blurb:

As a child, Emma Malloy left isolated Coal River, Pennsylvania, vowing never to return. Now, orphaned and penniless at nineteen, she accepts a train ticket from her aunt and uncle and travels back to the rough-hewn community. Treated like a servant by her relatives, Emma works for free in the company store. There, miners and their impoverished families must pay inflated prices for food, clothing, and tools, while those who owe money are turned away to starve. Most heartrending of all are the breaker boys Emma sees around the village–young children who toil all day sorting coal amid treacherous machinery. Their soot-stained faces remind Emma of the little brother she lost long ago, and she begins leaving stolen food on families’ doorsteps, and marking the miners’ bills as paid. And as the lines blur between what is legal and what is just, Emma must risk everything to follow her conscience.

My Review: 4 stars

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Coal River was a heartbreaking look into the lives of the coalminers, both young and old, and their shady bosses in the early 1900s. I really enjoyed Wiseman’s previous two books, The Plum Tree about the Holocaust, and What She Left Behind about insane asylums, and this book is no exception.

The common denominator in all three books is the strong, independent women who strive to do the right thing.

Emma, the main protagonist in Coal River, is appalled and outraged at the mining conditions and does whatever she can do to make a change. By putting herself at risk numerous times, her strength to forge forward kept the book thrilling. I was disgusted at the treatment of the children during this time. Wiseman does fabulous research in the telling of this story, especially bringing to the light the abuse of the “breaker boys”.

Although a neatly wrapped up ending was bothersome for some, I had no problem with it. It was nice to have some light amongst all the darkness.