This sweeping yet intimate historical novel from Anderson (author of Running from Moloka'i) charts hardship and dreams of escape in the life of the Ross family, starting in 1905 in Wales. Anderson tells the story primarily through the eyes and experiences of their oldest child, Stefan. A natural artist, he must deal with the cruelty of his mine-worker father, Garth, who crumples or otherwise destroys Stefan’s drawings, seemingly convinced that Stefan’s interest make him soft and unfit for life in the mine. Wife and mother Beca encourages Stefan’s creative side despite setbacks, while using what power she has to temper Garth’s cruelty. When second son Howie is born with a birth defect, Garth’s pride is damaged beyond repair and he swears his family to secrecy—Howie’s existence can never be divulged if he is to stay with his mother and brother.

This establishes a tense, wrenching situation for both brothers. Stefan does what he can to bring joy and education to his little brother but as Howie grows in the attic, effectively imprisoned, keeping the secret becomes almost impossible. Meanwhile, Anderson captures the desperation and determination Howie feels to experience the wonders of the world he has only seen through his small window. That coal-country world that readers experience, meanwhile, is brought to life with telling detail and evocative prose: Beca reflects on how Garth, when courting her, “respectfully shook the coal dust off his hat when he came to the house,” while after a rain "the wet choppy silver of the river was moving fast.”

That detail and the depth of character comes at the cost of narrative momentum, though the story of this lengthy novel proves rewarding. It’s told with rare empathy, even for Garth, whom Anderson refuses to present as a simple monster. Instead, she writes of an artist’s soul, of a boy “with eyes for the world but tethered apart from it,” of the way that war changes everything, and the ever-pressing question of what it takes to demand more from life than your family conceives is right.

Takeaway: Empathetic historical epic of a Welsh mining family whose sons dream of more.

Comparable Titles: Ellen Marie Wiseman’s Coal River, Jo Browning Wroe’s A Terrible Kindness.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A