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Baker Towers
Baker Towers
Author: Jennifer Haigh
A stunning follow-up to her bestselling debut, Mrs. Kimble, Jennifer Haigh returns with Baker Towers, a compelling story of love and loss in a western Pennsylvania mining town in the years after World War II — Bakerton is a company town built on coal, a town of church festivals and ethnic neighborhoods, hunters' breakfasts and firemen's p...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780060509422
ISBN-10: 0060509422
Publication Date: 2/2006
Pages: 368
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 78

3.8 stars, based on 78 ratings
Publisher: Perennial
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Luluette avatar reviewed Baker Towers on + 47 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
Excellent book - it made me kind of sad. You hear about these little coal towns dying...it's the end of a way of life. Nostalgic and full of great characters.
reviewed Baker Towers on + 21 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
wow, I loved this book , a book about a family,the choices they make a family the regrets they had a birth and a death of an era and a town.I could not put this book down I read it in less than a day.It was not a mystery but you definitely wanted to turn the page to find out what happened next. It was not a happy ending per say however it was satisfying in a way that and you find out that in the end the land lives on. I would so
recommend this book to anyone the story was so real.
reviewed Baker Towers on + 31 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Another great book from Jennifer Haigh. Fast reads and shows you how life in a mining town really is.
reviewed Baker Towers on
Helpful Score: 2
The well-written and very realistic characters in this book tell a story that is all too common -- how the decisions we make when we are young can unknowlingly shape the rest of our lives. From Georgie, the oldest of the five Novak children, who was seemingly destined to leave the confines of the little Pennsylvania mining town; fragile Dorothy; responsible Joyce who leaves the military and a life otherwise filled with promise to care for her ailing mother and younger siblings; younger brother Sandy, who leads a shiftless life; to little Lucy (the family's bonus baby) who, although seemingly groomed for a promising life outside of Bakerton, but feels compelled to return.

The author truly captures the essence of a small mining community in post-WW II America, where, for the men, a lifetime of working in the mines is almost an expectation. For the women, few opportunities exist beyond keeping house and raising children in the company houses that fill Bakerton's ethnic neighborhoods. Life moves by slowly, predictably, with little desire for change. When the times and economy changes, the town of Bakerton gradually fades away, but with hope for the future.

Jennifer Haigh tells the story of the Novacs beautifully. I'm not normally one to be driven to read the book cover to cover without putting it down, but this time I couldn't help myself. I didn't want to stop reading.
grammyteach avatar reviewed Baker Towers on + 192 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Great story that follows a Western PA coal town family from post war era through the 60's. Brought back some of my own baby-boomer childhood memories, growing-up in this part of the country.
Read All 29 Book Reviews of "Baker Towers"

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reviewed Baker Towers on + 92 more book reviews
Wonderful, warm small town experience. The characters came alive on the page and I felt like I was walking through this town. I truly enjoyed this book
reviewed Baker Towers on
This is a beautifully written book about a family and how the course of their lives is determined, in part, by their place of birth.
Jennifer Haigh makes the ordinary extraordinary.
reviewed Baker Towers on + 5 more book reviews
incredible yet sad story...especially coming from a family of coal miners. A definite must read about coming of age, family hardships, and small town America...for me, it's always nice to get a glimpse. highly recommended!
reviewed Baker Towers on + 51 more book reviews
Jennifer Haigh sweeps you along effortlessly through time and connects characters, some of which only have being blood relatives, in common. She tells of each separate family members story which go off in all different directions , yet are rooted in one small community. It is thought provoking and you easily care deeply for these people.
Highly recommend.
reviewed Baker Towers on
Rich with detail and compassion. Love the characters and Haigh's gift of bringing them to life with words.
reviewed Baker Towers on + 31 more book reviews
I could not put this book down !!!! Great book


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