Coal River

Written by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Narrated by C. S. E. Cooney

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. As the lines blur between what is legal and what is just, Emma must risk everything to follow her conscience.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Nov 24, 2015
• ISBN: 9781494585440

Ellen Marie Wiseman

Ellen Marie Wiseman is the New York Times bestselling author of the highly acclaimed historical fiction novels The Orphan Collector, What She Left Behind, The Plum Tree, Coal River and The Life She Was Given. Born and raised in Three Mile Bay, a tiny hamlet in northern New York, she’s a first-generation German American who discovered her love of reading and writing while attending first grade in one of the last one-room schoolhouses in New York State. Since then, her novels have been published worldwide, translated into twenty languages, and named to “Best Of” lists by Reading Group Choices, Good Housekeeping, Goodreads, The Historical Novel Society, Great Group Reads, and more. A mother of two, Ellen lives on the shores of Lake Ontario with her husband and dog. Visit her online at EllenMarieWiseman.com.

Reviews for Coal River

[Becki Basley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Coal River by Ellen Marie Wiseman

After losing her theater parents in a fire, Emma is given a choice or going to live with her aunt and uncle in Coal River. Her uncle is foreman at the local mine and her aunt and uncle live a very luxurious lifestyle. Arriving Emma us soon put to work to earn her keep helping her cousin at the horribly overcharged company store.

As Emma looks around her at the plight of the coalminers and their family,especially the plight of the breaker boys. She is horrified at the lack of empathy her uncle, his family, and the coal boss has for their workers and she is determined to help the coalminers families in any way she can.

A horrifying but true description of coalminers lives and there family at this time . It is an eye opening read to people not familiar with their plight. My dad and granddad were both West Virginia coalminers. I read every book I find on the lives of coalminers in history. This is a favorite.

[lostinalibrary · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It is the year 1912. After the death of her parents, 19-year-old Emma Malloy is forced to move to Coal River to live with her aunt and uncle. It is not only that they are abusive towards her though they are but her brother died here years ago as the result of the bullying of other boys. Like the name suggests, Coal River is a mining town and her uncle runs the company store. Emma is unable to look away from the crushing poverty and the ever present threat of accidents leading to injuries and death which are the lot of the miners and their families. She is especially shocked by the ‘breaker boys’, some as young as six, who work and often die in the mines even though their employment is a violation of the law. Coal River is an historical fiction novel by author Ellen Marie Wiseman and it provides a powerful, heartbreaking, and sadly, accurate portrait of life and frequent death in the coal mining towns of the era. The history portrayed here becomes as much a character even better drawn perhaps than the actual characters who tend to be overshadowed by the overriding and mind numbing poverty of the miners’ lives broken only by the too frequent accidents, deaths, and evictions and contrasted with the lavish excesses of the mine owners and their cohorts. There are references to how miners and their families were kept tied to the mines through forced indebtedness to the company store. There is mention of the Molly Maguires, a secret Irish society, active in the struggle against the British, who were rumoured to be active in organizing in the coal mining towns. As Wiseman hints here, there was never any proof that they actually existed in the US but instead were conjured up by the mine owners and their security forces as happens in this novel as an excuse to spy on the workers and to murder union organizers. There is also references to the use of photographs by famed photographer Lewis Hines which helped to educate the public to the plight of children working in the mines and would lead to stronger protections. With all of this and as a history buff with a particular interest in early labour history, I really wanted to like this story and I did right until the end. Unfortunately, this powerful storyline is marred by what seems like a rather contrived almost Dickensian ending. All plot lines are tied up much too neatly, the bad guys all get their comeuppances and good triumphs in some spectacularly unrealistic ways, with the mine made completely safe without a union or a strike, and with the children all happily gathering on the lawn to show their gratitude – I couldn’t help imagining them shouting out a joyous chorus from some Andrew Lloyd Webber musical as Emma does a royal wave from the balcony. I was ready to give the book 4 stars right up until the last few pages but giving the ending even 2 stars seemed a bit of a stretch so I’ve decided to comprise – 3 stars it is.

[jbarr5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Coal River by Ellen Marie WisemanFind it interesting to read about coal mines. This book starts out with Emma and she dreams of her brother Albert and her parents that died in the fire. She's to live with her mothers sister and their family at Coal River.Uncle Otis runs the mine and she's to help in the house with chores and in the company store with Percy-her cousin. She is quite taken aback to learn of the breaker boys and how they are not being educated and she sees the emptiness in the wives that come into the store, the despair.She wants to help them escape and get out in the real world. What I like about this book is learning more of the coal mine and the rats and why they are not harmed. Love learning all the new words and what they mean.Such a strong and brave woman in that time and to do the things she did to make life easier for others without caring about her personal life. Lots of action, surprises and the book is not a predictable one by any means.I received this book from The Kennsington Books in exchange for my honest review

[Amanda Reyes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a really great book. So far I've enjoyed all of the titles I read from this author!!

[Ada Lynn Allison · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent book! I didn’t want the story to end, I wish there was a sequel!

[vickimarie2002 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was so good! I'm not one to usually read historical fiction but I could not put it down! It was very heartbreaking to read about the breaker boys and the poor conditions for them and their families. I loved how Emma stopped at nothing to make sure they were treated fairly.

[rascalstar · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Because the author did research into mining practices in this period, the story is interesting and well worth a book. It was easy to read, but the writing tripped me up. There are awkward similes and other figures of speech, awkward phrasing and coupling of words here and there, and it's repetitious throughout. Wordy. Emma, the main character, isn't quite believable. She trembles at nearly everything all the way through the book and yet shows courage or immaturity, depending on circumstance, in many situations that seem like bravery or stupidity, without regard for consequences. That's typical of young people sometimes. But those who quake that much in person don't usually take so many risks. And I thought she exhibited way too much empathy for someone her age and with her background. It made her seem older. She couldn't have known what mothers and others felt at that age. There was plenty of action and heartbreak, plenty revealed about mining practices, which was the interesting bit. Clayton, another main character, make a truly miraculous and instantaneous recovery from being shot, beaten, and being near death, according to the author, at the end. It wasn't believable at all in the time frame indicated. This could have been a sterling story but for these type notes on the writing. There were more small things, but the story felt as though the author got the historical portions right. The writing was too much the "telling" type, which makes a story a bit dry. Even with that, I liked the story.

[tabatha014 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this. I thought it was well written and entertaining. It delves into the lives of families who work for a mining company with awful and dangerous conditions and horrible pay. And into the people whose selfishness keeps them in poverty and those who fight to expose the truth. I'm very thankful I received this book in a giveaway and had the opportunity to read it.

[janarose1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

After Emma’s parents die, she is shipped to Coal River, Pennsylvania, to the home of her aunt and uncle. Emma takes an interest in the breaker boys, children who toil in the coal mines sorting materials. When talk turns to strike, she instantly takes up for the miners, wanting to do everything within her power to improve their conditions.I’m not sure how to rate this book. Emma was hard to like. I thought her personality was abrasive, judgmental and overall, she was a difficult person. A lot of her mistakes are the mistakes of young adults just starting out. She could have been much more effective with different tactics. I continued reading because I was interested in the miners and their lifestyle. However, the author never really explained what the breaker boys do that is so dangerous. I had a hard time picturing the inside of the mines. Overall, this book was a bust.

[beamis12 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pennsylvania, 1912, coal mining is a horribly dangerous and back breaking job. The breaker boys, children so incredibly young sent to the mines, such a heartbreaking thing. Children were not allowed to be children during this time unless they came from wealthy families. Think we almost go overboard the other way in present time.Loved all the history and this was a very easy and quick flowing book to read. Emma though, seemed almost too good to be true. Some of the things she did seemed unrealistic although I did admire her determination. Also an ending that was too nearly wrapped up. So this ended up a mixed read for me though I do admire the subjects this author is willing to tackle.ARC from Netgalley.