It is hard to believe this book is fiction. Follows the life of a family and community in the hills of Kentucky/West Virginia. Highlights the struggles of poverty and assistance, but also has many human elements to the story. Very good book.
Like its prequel, "Storming Heaven," "Unquiet Earth" is a well-written account of life in coal-mining country at the turn-of-the-century and beyond. Great characters, gripping plot (based on real events), and fine writing.
Union organizer Dillon Freeman fights against the increasingly sophisticated tactics of the coal company while he struggles with his feelings for his cousin Rachel Honaker. She crosses over into "enemy territory" when she becomes entangled with company men, but continues to help her family and friends as a county public health nurse. Rachel's daughter Jackie learns of a world beyond Blackberry Creek when she meets Tom, a priest from the Peace Corps, who seeks to organize a food co-op and later works for social justice in Honduras. Giardina continues to create believable characters and a vivid landscape of pain as the coal mining community disintegrates over time. Highly recommended
