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Reviewed by Ann Linus for Readers' Favorite
Jeffrey L. Carrier’s Coal Dust on Purple Asters is a short historical trilogy about three families surviving in the rough mountains of Kentucky through wars and the Great Depression. In Rain on Chinquapin Holler, Wiley Hicks, a coal miner, is torn between providing for his family and enjoying the loving comfort of an enchanting city girl. When a flooding storm strikes unexpectedly, he has to choose between his family’s safety and his lover’s embrace. A Sprig of Purple Asters tells the story of May Owens, a coal miner’s wife, who lives each day worrying about where her family’s next meal will come from, managing the little her husband provides. Stretched so thin, May is ready to do anything to protect her family’s meager resources, including burning down their home. In Red Snow in the Kentucky Woods, little James Herald commits a heinous crime while escaping an ill-fated destiny in the coal mines of Black Spring. He takes on a new identity and starts a new life, but the ghosts of his past never leave him.
Some books give you goosebumps long after you’ve read the last page. Coal Dust on Purple Asters was such a book for me. Jeffery L. Carrier aptly captured the stark realities of America’s industrial era in a small mining town just a century ago, which led me to ponder the human cost of the innovations and advancements we have today. The stories are centered on the themes of love, sacrifice, survival, crime, poverty, and heartbreak. Knowing that real events inspired these stories made them more intriguing and emotionally thought-provoking. The characters’ language added to the realistic elements. The author captured the local accent, and I loved it. I also loved the author's writing style. I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
