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Coal River - Ellen Marie Wiseman

By Ellen Marie Wiseman

Release Date: 2015-11-24

Genre: Literary Fiction

4.5 (98 ratings)
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This eye-opening novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan Collector delivers “a spot-on portrayal of a dark time in American history” (Historical Novel Society, Editor’s Choice).
 
Ellen Marie Wiseman draws readers into the Pennsylvania mining operations of the early 20th century—where children had no choice but to work in deadly conditions . . . or face starvation.
 
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.
 
Though Emma’s actions draw ire from the mine owner and police captain, they lead to an alliance with a charismatic miner who offers to help her expose the truth. And as the lines blur between what is legal and what is just, Emma must risk everything to follow her conscience.
 
“Wiseman offers heartbreaking and historically accurate depictions of the dangerous mines, the hopeless workers, and their improbable fight for justice.” —Publishers Weekly

Coal River - Ellen Marie Wiseman

By Ellen Marie Wiseman

Release Date: 2015-11-24

Genre: Literary Fiction

4.5 (98 ratings)
Read Download
This eye-opening novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan Collector delivers “a spot-on portrayal of a dark time in American history” (Historical Novel Society, Editor’s Choice).
 
Ellen Marie Wiseman draws readers into the Pennsylvania mining operations of the early 20th century—where children had no choice but to work in deadly conditions . . . or face starvation.
 
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.
 
Though Emma’s actions draw ire from the mine owner and police captain, they lead to an alliance with a charismatic miner who offers to help her expose the truth. And as the lines blur between what is legal and what is just, Emma must risk everything to follow her conscience.
 
“Wiseman offers heartbreaking and historically accurate depictions of the dangerous mines, the hopeless workers, and their improbable fight for justice.” —Publishers Weekly

More by Ellen Marie Wiseman

What She Left Behind

The Orphan Collector

The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

The Life She Was Given

The Plum Tree

The Lies They Told

Coal River

La vie qu'on m'a choisie

Kolekcjonerka sierot

Zaginione z Willowbrook

Le donne di casa Blackwood

La stagione dei ricordi perduti

Ce qu'elle a laissÊ derrière elle

Dla jej dobra

To, co zostawiła

El secreto de las hermanas Blackwood

To, co zostawiła

LĂ  oĂš sont tes racines

Wat de bergen bewaren

Les Enfants de la mine

De verdwenen meisjes van Willowbrook

De wezenmoeder

Les disparues de Willowbrook

Zaginione z Willowbrook

De pruimenboom

La coleccionista de huĂŠrfanos

Les orphelins de Philadelphie

Kolekcjonerka sierot

Barntjuven

Wat ze achterliet

Olifantenmeisje

De brekerjongens

Philadelphia ĂĄrvĂĄi

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