Thanks to Quaker Dave, I spent the last 2 days almost unable to get up off the couch, nose buried deep in a book. Actually, two books: Storming Heaven and The Unquiet Earth by Denise Giardina. They are among the best novels I've ever read. Set in the coalfields of eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, beginning early in the twentieth century, they tell the all too real story of the theft, rape, and plunder of the Appalachian mountains by the coal companies with the collusion of the United States government, and the courage of the miners and their families as they stood up to them time and time again.And the hell of it is, all of this is still going on to this day. First they dug the minerals out of the mountains. Then they stripped everything from the sides of the mountains. Now they are cutting the tops off the mountains and scooping out whatever is left. I had a revelation while I was reading it, that West Virginia is essentially occupied territory, like Palestine or Iraq. My good friend in West Virginia once told me that it is the wealthiest state in natural resources, but has the highest poverty level in the nation because everything is shipped out. The profits line the pockets of fat cat CEOs of multinational corporations.
Giardina is a powerful writer. I cared very deeply for every one of her characters, and I'm not ashamed to say that I wept through many parts of both books. The politics were clear-eyed and straightforward. The human interactions -- love, hurt, betrayal, loyalty -- were authentic. It may take some looking to find them, but please do yourself a favor and read these books. They will leave you breathless.
I don't buy many books these days, but I ordered my own copies of these ones. They are available new in mass market editions, but abebooks has many used copies. As always, if Amazon is your default online bookseller, please consider going independent. Amazon neither needs nor deserves your money.
A couple of other related book recommendations: Kentucky singer Jean Ritchie's wonderful memoir Singing Family of the Cumberlands will give a good picture of what was lost when the coal companies moved in. Another great novel is Harriet Simpson Arnow's The Dollmaker. (Hint: Jane Fonda produced and starred in a tv version of that a while back. She changed a devastating and beautiful story into The Waltons. I haven't forgiven her. Don't give it the time of day.)
