Publisher Description
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.
Download and start listening now!
About Ellen Marie Wiseman
Ellen Marie Wiseman is the author of the novels The Plum Tree, What She Left Behind, and Coal River. Born and raised in Three Mile Bay, a tiny hamlet in northern New York, Ellen now lives on the shores of Lake Ontario with her husband, two spoiled shih-tzus, and a rescued yellow Lab. She loves to cook, travel, garden, watch movies, and spend time with her children and grandchildren.
About C. S. E. Cooney
C. S. E. Cooney is a writer, actor, poet, and singer-songwriter. She narrates for Podcastle, the world’s first audio fantasy magazine; Uncanny Magazine, an online science fiction and fantasy magazine; and the poetry journals Goblin Fruit and Stone Telling.