Beth Kirschner

I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program, and I am grateful to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

An interesting look at the Calumet copper mine strikes and the Italian Hall disaster, seen through the eyes of community members with investments in the strike, either for or against. It did feel a little heavy on the perspectives of people opposed to the strike--a 2:1 ratio of narrators. I don't need it to necessarily be balanced, but I think adding the perspective of a union organizer might be useful to give better depth to how the workers were actually trying to change things (though I understand the impulse to instead focus on the wives of workers.)

But what really moved it down from 4 stars to 3.5 for me was how quickly it ended? I literally kept tapping my ereader thinking there would be another page, it felt that quickly cut off.

I do think this book showcased the diversity of workers and the community around mining in northern Michigan, which is something that can often be swiped under the rug, and I think the glance especially into the ways that Jewish people (who are often erased from these kinds of histories) lived, worshipped together, and worked might be really cool for people to read.

Overall this was an interesting look at an event that maybe is not well known to people outside the region (or who, in my case, don't have a labor historian for a parent,) but felt surface at times and ended so abruptly I was literally confused when there wasn't more.… (más)

Early Readers Review of Copper Divide by Beth Kirschner
This is a work of fiction based on a real event—its strength lies in fleshing out a sad story. If you hear that over 70 people died in a stampede after someone (falsely) cried fire, you shake your head and think, “what a shame…” and then you go on with your day. This book helps you “know” the people involved and their deaths stick with you for a long time.
I was most moved by the thought that identifying with a cause could so completely destroy personal relationships. That was as sad to me as the lives lost. People wanted to BE right more than they wanted to DO right. Unhappily, that seems to be a lesson that people never seem to learn and we remain embroiled in similar situations to this day.
The last few pages of this book took it from a good read to a moving experience. Different points of view and the characters reactions to the tragedy really drove home the hurt. One man excused himself of guilt because he was “just kidding” and the people were foolish to over-react; he decided to leave. One survivor experienced fury at the entire community—even in the face of compassion for her loss. One felt total confusion at the anger of the people involved. And only one was changed.
I liked the story—I really liked the food for thought.… (más)

A fictional treatment of the historic ethnic and class conflict, which arose in the copper mines of upper Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, culminating in the deaths of 73 children and adults in the Italian Hall stampede tragedy of 1913. This novel counterpoises the experiences of a working class Finnish mother and her childhood friend, an aspiring university student from an observant Sephardic Jewish merchant family. The human costs of mining operations in Copper Country were significant. The haunting image of a funeral procession of a dead Croatian miner dressed in his Sunday best followed by a grieving girlfriend dressed as his bride along with white clad bridesmaids, motivates one [this reviewer at least] to seek out the broader historical narratives of the Keweenaw Peninsula’s rich history.… (más)