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The western Pennsylvania coal town of Bakerton is populated by immigrants—Italian, Polish, Hungarian, and Irish. The men work in the mines and some of the women work in the local garment factory. All live in company houses with three rooms upstairs and three rooms downstairs, and must buy from the company store.
Rose, an Italian girl, marries Stanley Novak, a Polish miner, and moves to the Polish side of town. They have five children and struggle to raise them. In early 1944, Stanley dies suddenly of a heart attack.
The novel begins with his death and relates the stories of the lives of his widow and five children, spanning three decades. Each member of the family was affected in different ways by Stanley's death. Sections are told from the perspectives of each of the children and their mother, allowing the reader to identify with each individual's concerns, struggles, and feelings. The ending was exceptionally moving, with its promise of renewal.
Haigh's characters are fully developed, unique, and interesting. Her evocative descriptions, attention to detail, and word images made me feel I was present in the story.
I have one small complaint, but it pales in comparison to my satisfaction with the book as a whole. I was pulled out of the story a couple of times by references to products during WWII (foam hair rollers and Magic Markers) that weren't actually produced until the fifties. (Although the felt-tip marker was created in the 1940s, the term "Magic Marker" was not used until 1952.)
This is my favorite type of novel, a historical family saga, and I hated the book to end—I wanted to continue to be involved in the characters' lives. Haigh's debut novel, Mrs. Kimble, won the PEN/Hemingway award. BAKER TOWERS is also prize-worthy, and I highly recommend it. I will definitely look for future work from Jennifer Haigh.
Reviewed by Marie DisBrow
for The Road to Romance
March 4, 2005
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