Storming Heaven: Amazon.ca: Denise Giardina: Books

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Four strong, entirely different voices evoke the passion and the pain of unionizing the coal mines of Kentucky and West Virginia in the early 20th century. The canvas is broad, the action complex but even minor characters quicken to life in this memorable, beautifully written novel. The inhabitants of the hills of Appalachia see their beloved land stolen by the coal companies; forced to work in the mines, they are cheated out of their pay. Families starve, die of malaria and dysentery and slowly, almost against their will, begin the fearsome job of fighting back. In 1921, an army of 10,000 workers marches on a single town. The coal companies, the police and finally the federal government close in; hundreds are killed and the man who masterminded the attack is shot. As fast paced and compulsively readable as a thriller, this novel never overlooks the gentler pleasure of living on the land, falling in love, raising a family. Stunning sensory images sear scenes on the mind's eye. Giardina (Good King Harry has written one of those rare books that portrays a small world with impeccable clarity while telling an exciting story in vigorous, elegant prose.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From School Library Journal

YA This well-written novel is an earnest recreation of the turbulent events in the West Virginia coal fields during the early decades of this century. The ties of the people to land and family are the book's soul, and their violent confrontations with those who took their land and tried to take their dignity are its body. Because it is well into the story before the lives of most of the characters intersect and because the book builds to a climax of bloody repression of a strike, this may not have universal appeal to young adults. But those who reach at least as far as the black union organizer's fiery death in a company furnace are likely to finish and appreciate this tale of injustice met by bravery. Mike Parsons, Houston Public Library
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews

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3 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars WV History Come to Life, Mar 14 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Storming Heaven (Mass Market Paperback)

The version of West Virginia history I learned in school as a child never matched the history I learned perched on my daddy's knee. Giardina tells the story of her not-so-distant ancestors, my ancestors, giving a voice to people the rest of America either maligned or ignored for so many decades. She captures the dialect, the manners, and the spirit of these people, telling their story in a way only someone who loves them fiercely could ever manage. Giardina is one of the people who have proven to me that Appalachia is worth writing about, after all.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book, Feb 1 2003

By

"inquisitive79" (St. Albans, WV United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storming Heaven (Mass Market Paperback)

As luck would have it, the author of this fantastic tale teaches at my college. That's right, I get to experience (and even be taught by) her any time I feel like sneaking by her room or dishing out money to be a student. BS aside, it's a good book--buy and read it, or forever be lesser than you could be.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Vividly captures Appalachian culture and the human spirit, Oct 25 2002

By

Dwight Hopper (Corbin, KY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storming Heaven (Mass Market Paperback)

After reading Storming Heaven a vivid image came to my mind. I thought,
"When heaven storms, the rain beats down on us in torrents. It flushes our filth; it rinses the dust trapped in the crevices of our soul."

Writing about a subject such as the coal miners and the union, Denise Giardina was able to capture and retain my attention. She took the subject and interwove it with rich characters. I admire the way that Denise Giardina used language to capture the highlights of a baseball game. That's not an easy task to achieve on paper.

Denise Giardina was able to capture the nature of the human spirit in her novel. I knew that she had done this when I found myself relating to the characters and their trials and tribulations. I have had a Rondal. I tend to think most of us have. It is that person you love that doesn't quite love you back and that makes you love them even more. I have had an Albion. I tend to think most of us have. It's that person that loves you and you don't quite love them back and that makes them love you even more.

Then you grow older and your heart is tired of hurting. You don't want to be alone. You settle and you take the comfort of selecting a partner that is loyal and a friend, someone that doesn't trouble you. You settle for an Albion. You usually grow old with your Albion and think of your Rondal when the sun shines or the wind blows, but then you think about how lucky you are to have Albion when you're sick or your day is long.
But, Denise Giardina placed interesting twists and surprises in her novel.

The story has elements of sadness, but it brought no tears to my eyes. I felt bad for C.J. and his loss. I felt sorry for Rosa with her broken language and life. I felt sorry for Carrie and her heartache; I felt sorry for Miles with his longing for something more. I sympathized with the pain of being a mother that remembers nursing something that is now a gray corpse. Every character had a loss, an emptiness, a vulnerability, a strength and so forth. They were human.

I like the images of the last paragraph at the end of the book, but I feel disappointed in the ending. I am not sure I felt that she did the rest of the book justice. I thought that it was ironic that at the end when the baby has the last name "Freeman." Men are never free.

Even with death, Giardina insinuates that there is no rest. Remembrance is so powerful; it follows us to the grave and beyond. Ghosts roam not to forgive but to forget. They roam in vain.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Richness Only Found in West Virginia
If you are a native of West Virginia, this book is your heritage. The most fascinating element of the novel is the fact that Giardina captures the raw, gritty nature of the... Read more

Published on Mar 2 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars Sad and beautiful
Absolutely one of the best books I've ever read. You should follow it up with Unquiet Earth, the sequel. Read more

Published on Aug 16 2001