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Baker Towers

by Jennifer Haigh

ISBN: 0060509422
ISBN-13: 9780060509422
Format: Paperback

Summary

A coal miner's granddaughter writes about a Pennsylvania town where coal is king, and where the "towers" of the title are the two enormous slag heaps looming over the place. The Polish-American Novak family is the focus of the story-a widowed mother and a large assortment of brothers and sisters, some of whom manage to escape the dead-end life offered by Bakerton, some of whom succumb. Mama Rosa, whose husband died in the mines, is the presiding presence, the tough, nurturing rock who keeps her family mostly steady, but the narrative shifts among several characters, providing a changing perspective on a slice of American life as it was fading away.

Customer Reviews

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Media Reviews

"An elegant, elegiac multigenerational saga about a small coal-mining community in western Pennsylvania...Their lives unfold in episodes that tie the individual to the community, and the lines of connection between characters�even the most minor�weave an intricate social tapestry. By the time the mines close for good, every thread connects. Almost mythic in its ambition, somewhere between Oates and Updike country, and thoroughly satisfying."

   -- Kirkus

"[An] effortlessly haunting story [that] abounds with satisfyingly real and vivid individuals....[T]his book has the heart to end, credibly and unsentimentally, on a note of rebirth. And Bakerton is utterly, entrancingly alive on the page even as it is supposed to be fading away."    -- Janet Maslin

   -- New York Times

Bibliographic Details

Publisher: Harpercollins
Published date: 2006
Size: 5.25 x 8 inches
Weight: 0.6 pounds
Pages: 334

Publisher's Notes

The decade following World War II becomes one of tragedy, excitement, and unexpected change for the five Novak children and the residents of their western Pennsylvania community of company houses, church festivals, union squabbles, and firemen's parades. By the author of Mrs. Kimble.

Other Editions

Hardcover - Harpercollins (2005) - from $1.00
Paperback Reprint - Harpercollins (2006) - from $1.00

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Baker Towers: A Novel

Jennifer Haigh

[ISBN: 0060509422]

Harper Perennial, 2006-01-01. Paperback. Like New. May be shiny, in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, no damage to binding, may have a remainder mark. (more information)

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