Mourning Redemption (Book) - 1/17/2008 9:18:01 AM
This book has done something that no other book has ever done for me, made me truly interested in history and anxious to read more. To be perfectly honest this is a subject I am usually not very interested in. Fortunately I was provided this book by a great publishing group -Triad. I knew that it was on my to be read pile, and because it isn't very long thought I would pick it up and "get it over with". Wow, how judgemental can I be, right? Well, thank you Sharon M. Clarke and Vern Firestone for making me see that I literally can't judge a book by it's cover.
To say that being a coal miner is a dangerous job would be an understatement - each year there are over 93 deaths and thousands of injuries. Sharon M. Clarke has written a wonderful story which uses mining as a backdrop for some extraordinary characters, and leads you on a journey that will tug on your heartstrings. It is not one you are soon to forget.
The Evans family have nothing holding them back after Mari loses her mother, and Rhodri's job at the mine is rendered redundant. They decide that now is as good a time as any to start over, and what better place than America. So they pack a few items and board a ship with their 3 young boys.
Once here they decide that New York is not for them and they settle in New Salem, PA. It is a mining town, which is ok with the Evans' as this is the life that they are accustomed to. Unfortunately, working in the mines was similar to slavery - you arrived here with nothing and the mine set you up with a place to live and the essentials, but you used credit that the mine set up. It became almost impossible to get ahead so you became trapped in a very dangerous and very hard life.
The sorrow that this book exudes is overwhelming at times. I think what makes it so is the fact that this is how people lived their lives. The author has an uncanny ability to weave historical elements into the story, and really make you feel as if you understand what the individuals were going through. Starting with the sinking of the Titanic and the effect that it has on Mari's neighbor and best friend Catherine, to the effects of a heartbreaking loss due to Anthrax, and what emotions are evoked when the oldest boy enlists in the military to fight in WWI.
This story encompasses so much history and brings it to light in such a fantastic way, it was truly a page turner. Many people today, myself included, are not aware of the hardships that these people went through just to survive daily - the children received a knitted scarf and an orange for Christmas gifts and were THRILLED - can you imagine that happening today?
This may be the story of just one family, but we all should be able to read this and see what are ancestors did in order to provide us with the way of living most of us are accustomed to - I am hopeful this will make some of us take stock in our lives and do things that will leave a lasting impact on our descendents.
I don't give out 5 stars on a book lightly - it doesn't mean that I didn't like the book, in fact I love a lot of books that I only give 4 stars to. It takes a special book to earn 5 stars, and this one has done it. Thanks to Sharon M. Clarke, and hope to read more by you soon!
Mourning Redemption (Book) - 10/1/2007 2:51:14 PM
Sharon M. Clarke has written a story of Welsh immigrants that reminds me of the classic 'How Green was my Valley' -
It is a beautifully written book that follows the journey of the Evans family - Rhodri, his wife, Mari, and their children. Vivid pictures of leaving Wales and coming to their home in America - New Salem, PA.
New Salem is a mining town. If you had no education and no money, and wanted to eat - a person could either work in mining or the steel mills - In New Salem, the mining industry was king - They owned you - the housing you lived in, the supplies you used at work, the food you bought at their store - all deducted from the paycheck and sometimes, the take-home pay was just pennies. A hard life.
Mourning covers the events of the times in the early 1900's - the Virginia Mine Wars, the sinking of the Titanic, the unrest in Europe and subsequent start and horror of WWI - and the Evans' oldest child joining the Army to fight in it.
Also covered was the Spanish flu pandemic that took millions of lives around the world. Very poignant since we have fears of pandemics in present day -
The scope of this book is amazing - For those of us who are descendants of 1900's immigrants, this is a powerful book - a story of love, conflict, history and redemption.
ellen george
Mourning Redemption ISBN 0979824486 Triad Publishing Group
