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Kensington
December 2015
On Sale: December 1, 2015
Featuring: Emma Malloy
ISBN: 1617734470
EAN: 9781617734472
Kindle: B00VQFKHEC
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Paperback (May 2020)
Women's Fiction
In this vibrant new historical novel, the acclaimed author of The Plum Tree and What She Left Behind explores one young womanβs determination to put an end to child labor in a Pennsylvania mining townβ¦ 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 villageβyoung 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 familiesβ doorsteps, and marking the minersβ bills as paid. Though Emmaβs 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. An emotional, compelling novel that rings with authenticityβCoal River is a deft and honest portrait of resilience in the face of hardship, and of the simple acts of courage that can change everything.
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