Helpful Score: 4
This was a terrific book - one of the best I've read in a long time. I have had no personal interactions with anyone in the mining business nor have I ever spent significant time in Appalachia, but this book definitely explores that field so well that the reader would think that they've been there! The characters are easy to relate to due to the great development of their characters. The author's style of writing is so engaging that putting the book down seems like a sacrifice to make because she has you sitting on the edge of your seat or biting your nails.
Have I shown that I loved this book in spite of the tragedies that occur? And there are tragedies and frequent losses of loved ones - it's mining after all!! The roles of the women in this book are to be admired in view of the time period, the lives they lived and the lousy economy.
This is apparently the first book in a very promising series and I, for sure, will be reading the next one!
Have I shown that I loved this book in spite of the tragedies that occur? And there are tragedies and frequent losses of loved ones - it's mining after all!! The roles of the women in this book are to be admired in view of the time period, the lives they lived and the lousy economy.
This is apparently the first book in a very promising series and I, for sure, will be reading the next one!
Helpful Score: 4
I have to say that I was captivated by The Widows from the minute I began reading, and it does have a lot to do with my own personal experience. My mother was a widow (wife at eighteen, mother at nineteen, widow at twenty), so I know how tough and protective women on their own can be. Secondly, I come from a small farm town that used to be a mining town. On Christmas Eve 1932, methane gas built up in the mine, the barometric pressure dropped, the man who was going to be Santa that night at the community center flipped the switch to the lights down in the mine, and... no more mine. Fifty-four men died that day. Several sets of fathers and sons, brothers, uncles... My mother grew up with those men's children. Why am I yammering on about this? Because in those first few pages of The Widows when the methane gas begins to build in the coal mine known as The Widowmaker outside Kinship, chills ran up my spine. A connection was formed right then and there that never wavered throughout Montgomery's story.
The setting is pitch perfect, and the characters of Lily and Marvena are wonderful and completely capable of surprising everyone with just what they can do and how they can figure things out. They aren't just trying to find a killer. Lily, in particular, is also dealing with an extremely volatile situation concerning the mine owner who wants unionizers kept off his property, and to top it all off, the Volstead Act means that she's got to take care of moonshiners, too.
The excellent characterization also extends to Daniel, who moves from being a caricature of the heroic sheriff to being much more sharply delineated and "human." There's even a bad guy named Vogel who's so scary that if I were to turn around and find him standing behind me, I'd probably shatter into a million pieces.
In reading The Widows, you can learn about the dangers of being a miner and the importance of unions, you're treated to some excellent characters and one fine, twisty mystery that I loved even if I did figure out the identity of the spider at the center of the web early on. I can't tell you how happy I was when I learned that this is the first book in a series. I can't wait to get back to Kinship, Ohio, to be with Lily and Marvena again!
The setting is pitch perfect, and the characters of Lily and Marvena are wonderful and completely capable of surprising everyone with just what they can do and how they can figure things out. They aren't just trying to find a killer. Lily, in particular, is also dealing with an extremely volatile situation concerning the mine owner who wants unionizers kept off his property, and to top it all off, the Volstead Act means that she's got to take care of moonshiners, too.
The excellent characterization also extends to Daniel, who moves from being a caricature of the heroic sheriff to being much more sharply delineated and "human." There's even a bad guy named Vogel who's so scary that if I were to turn around and find him standing behind me, I'd probably shatter into a million pieces.
In reading The Widows, you can learn about the dangers of being a miner and the importance of unions, you're treated to some excellent characters and one fine, twisty mystery that I loved even if I did figure out the identity of the spider at the center of the web early on. I can't tell you how happy I was when I learned that this is the first book in a series. I can't wait to get back to Kinship, Ohio, to be with Lily and Marvena again!
Helpful Score: 2
This read is about life in a coal mine area of Ohio. The author found inspiration in a story about Ohio's first female sheriff, Maude Collins, who assumed her husband's office in 1925 when he was killed in the line of duty. She, like Lily Ross, a heroine in this book was jail matron and asked to asked to take on her husband's role. Lily's husband, Daniel, died in an apparent accident while moving a prisoner from one town to another. But Lily discovers evidence at the scene does not correspond with the explanation. As the investigation continues, more fails to support it. Honest, hard working and pregnant, she is determined to discover what really happened.
It is Kinship, Ohio, in the year of 1924. Life is hard for the miners and their families. Accidents have coined their mine, The Widow Maker. Pay is low and given in script which must be spent at the company's shops. While they have homes, if a miner dies the family is evicted and must move into tents to survive.
Lily soon learns that Daniel had secrets - a part of life he never shared. Following the funeral, a woman named Marvena Whitcomb, calls. A coal miner's widow, she explains that Daniel was investigating the disappearance of her daughter, Eula. As they become acquainted Lila realizes that Marvena was much closer to Daniel than that of a despairing mother. perhaps even his lover.
Well written with detail about coal mining in an area in Ohio, the author combines the lives of two women to create a fascinating drama about coal mining, labor issues, unionizing efforts, and a drab life of trying to make a living. She created a mythical county, Bronwyn, added details about the Appalachian mountains, food and culture. Many characters are based on women the author knew through her life, several of whom were relatives. It's a good, good well written story.
It is Kinship, Ohio, in the year of 1924. Life is hard for the miners and their families. Accidents have coined their mine, The Widow Maker. Pay is low and given in script which must be spent at the company's shops. While they have homes, if a miner dies the family is evicted and must move into tents to survive.
Lily soon learns that Daniel had secrets - a part of life he never shared. Following the funeral, a woman named Marvena Whitcomb, calls. A coal miner's widow, she explains that Daniel was investigating the disappearance of her daughter, Eula. As they become acquainted Lila realizes that Marvena was much closer to Daniel than that of a despairing mother. perhaps even his lover.
Well written with detail about coal mining in an area in Ohio, the author combines the lives of two women to create a fascinating drama about coal mining, labor issues, unionizing efforts, and a drab life of trying to make a living. She created a mythical county, Bronwyn, added details about the Appalachian mountains, food and culture. Many characters are based on women the author knew through her life, several of whom were relatives. It's a good, good well written story.
