Indie Weekend: Anywhere But Schuylkill by Michael Dunn

Indie Weekend is my effort to help Indie authors with marketing. It’s quite a daunting task, and if I can help even a little, I’m happy to do it. Please see below a book description, much deserved 5-star review, author information, and buy links for Anywhere But Schuylkill by Michael Dunn.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

ANYWHERE BUT SCHUYLKILL is the first of three books by Michael Dunn in his Great Upheaval trilogy. It is story of a teenage boy, Mike Doyle, struggling to free his family from the violence of their greedy, hard-drinking Uncle Sean.

The time is 1870s. The Long Depression is raging. Children are dying of hunger. The Reading Railroad has hired Pinkerton spies to infiltrate the miners’ union. And there is a sectarian war between the Modocs, a Welsh gang, and the Kohinoor Boys, an Irish gang. But Mike has a plan. It’s risky. It involves collaboration with the Kohinoor Boys. He could wind up in jail, or worse.

ANYWHERE BUT SCHUYLKILL is Michael Dunn’s first complete novel.

BOOK REVIEW

Wow, what a wonderful piece of historical fiction! The research is just astounding and the author’s expert knowledge of these events is evident. The reader is transported to 19^th century Pennsylvania and the sights, sounds, and smells of that time come alive through Michael Dunn’s writing.  When our main character Mike goes into a coal mine, we can see the dark tunnels through the light of the miners’ lamps, and we can smell the sweat of the men next to him.  When he is forced to walk through a picket line as a “blackleg,” we can feel the hate and desperation of those who are striking for better wages and treatment.  And most of all we can see him lined up with a group of young, hungry boys forced to work for almost nothing. 

The descriptive, realistic writing is impressive. For example, the following passage shows what it’s like to be a “breaker boy” in a coal mine.  “Pulling his shirt over his nose, he proceeded through the diagonal maze of chutes that crisscrossed the room.  Each had ascending rows of boys sitting side by side above them on thin planks, as if they were on bleachers at a ballgame, except instead of facing home plate and enjoying the game, they all faced uphill, hunched over, their arms and legs darting in and out, like cockroaches rummaging for food.”  Difficult and horrific situations such as discrimination, forced labor, and child abuse are shown truthfully. The desperation of young boys in horrible situations is written so well that the reader feels as if they are experiencing it.  The author masterfully paints a vivid picture of the time, place, and events.  It is very difficult to completely recreate a historic event in writing, place the reader in the middle of it, and make them feel as if they are there. This author has done it, and in his debut novel! This is the first in a trilogy and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

AUTHOR BIO

Michael Dunn writes Working-Class Historical Fiction from the Not So Gilded Age. ANYWHERE BUT SCHUYLKILL is the first in his Great Upheaval trilogy. A lifelong union activist, he has always been drawn to stories of the past, particularly those of regular working people, struggling to make a better life for themselves and their families. These are stories most people do not know, or have forgotten, because history is written by the victors, the robber barons and plutocrats, not the workers and immigrants. Yet their stories are among the most compelling in America. They resonate today because they are the stories of our own ancestors, because their passions and desires, struggles and tragedies, were so similar to our own.

MICHAEL DUNN’S WEBSITE | TWITTER (X) | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK

BUY LINKS

AMAZON | AMAZON UK

BEFORE YOU GO

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