Playing St Barbara edition by Marian Szczepanski Literature Fiction eBooks
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The secret struggles and self-redemption of a Depression-era coal miner's wife and three daughters play out against a turbulent historical backdrop of Ku Klux Klan intimidation and the 1933 Pennsylvania Mine War. Tested by scandal, heartbreak, and tragedy, each woman will writer her own courageous ending to their story.
Playing St Barbara edition by Marian Szczepanski Literature Fiction eBooks
Playing St. Barbara is the debut novel of Marian Szczepanski and it’s a powerful one that will stick with you long after you turn the last page. Marian takes us back to a time in history that I’ve not read much about and that is of life in a coal mining town back in the 1930′s during the depression. She takes us back in time and immerses us not only in her character’s lives but also in the atmosphere of time and place. This novel can feel quite bleak but it also shows the power of relationships between mothers and daughters and the courage it takes to once again love yourself enough to change your future.The novel is told from the viewpoints of the three daughters Deidre, Norah, and Katie along with their mother Clare and always in the background is their father Fin, a very volatile and abusive man who handles the hard life of a miner and the poverty of the times by turning to alcohol. Deidre is one to stand up to her father and she takes it to the extreme when she decides to take up with a boy from the Company police. Katie seemed to be the delicate one to me wanting to dedicate her life to the convent but still loving the boy from her neighborhood that’s always been sweet on her. Now Norah is the one with secrets but also a desire to be something more than just another girl from the wrong end of town. However her secrets keep her tethered to home and her mother. Clare just made me sad. Overpowered by a man who took away her identity and life she struggles with secrets from the past that have her believing this is the life she deserves. Each of these women must learn to find their own way to a better life. Throughout it all the legend of St. Barbara lingers.
Clare was my favorite of the women even though I got so frustrated with her for enduring the abuse she did although she had her reasons. I think it’s hard to imagine but you have to take yourself back in time and feel what it would be like to be living such a hard life in a coal mining town such as Clare was. It’s a life full of hard work and fear of losing your men in the mines. Add to that an abusive husband and that life of hardship multiplies tenfold. Clare needed to find her voice again but does she have the strength after all the hardships she’s endured? Or will she just accept her lot in life?
I enjoyed this novel. It transported me to another time and place where I became invested in the characters and the lifestyle of this coal mining town. Playing St. Barbara is a great piece of historical fiction and I’ll be looking forward to reading more from Marian Szczepanski!
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Playing St Barbara edition by Marian Szczepanski Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
This is the best book I have ever read about the lives of the miners and their families in our area of Western Pennsylvania. Though fictional, you hit the nail right on the head. A couple of generations before me, I could still recognize people who mirrored the fictional characters in the book. Thank you to the author for bringing local history to life.
It's been 30 minutes since I finished Playing St. Barbara, and it wrecked me--in the best possible way. I love the writing, the story, the characters, who haunt me, who've dogged me for days as I've been reading this beautiful book full of heartbreak and disaster and hope and triumph. I couldn't wait to turn each page, and I couldn't bear to leave the one I was reading. I want to move to the world Marian Szczepanski has created, which shows what an amazing job she's done of finding what's good and honest and beautiful in devastating conditions. In lives that are hard, really hard. I want to move to this world, because I feel it's a part of me now, and because I can't stand to leave these people behind.
This book was excellent. I would encourage anyone to read it. It has some history and a great story. The sexual content is well written to imply rather than describe. The author goes into detail at the finish of the book to tell what is history and what was modified. I can't wait to read the next book by this author.
Once I started this book it was hard to put it down. The women in this story are finely drawn and their intertwined lives kept me turning the pages to see where they would go next. The historical details were well researched and so important to the tale. Makes me want to know what happened after the book was finished. Thank you, Marian, for a well written, very interesting book!
I put off starting this book because I thought it would be too historical for my taste but I was very happily mistaken. Playing St. Barbara grabbed my interest from the first chapter and held it every minute. The development of strong female characters during the depression era in the Pennsylvania mines and their interaction and support of one another is amazing. Really, describing this book does not do it justice because it is just an incredible story with wonderful characters and I could not recommend it highly enough. Give it a read and you won't be disappointed!
When Marian Szczepanski contacted me about presenting an author talk at our local library, I was eager to read her book. From the first chapter, I knew that she had done extensive research before putting pen to paper. As a life-long resident of western Pennsylvania, I am familiar with the coal mining history of this region. Although most of the local mines have long ceased production, numerous company “coal patch” towns survive today as tight-knit residential communities. I “see” in my mind’s eye, many of the faces and places portrayed in Marian’s fictional account of life in a coal mining community during the Depression.
It is not just the setting that is authentically portrayed; it is also the unforgettable characters. Miner Sweeney is admittedly a bit of a stereotype as the drunken and abusive husband, but Szczepanski’s depiction of the four female characters is spot on. Their everyday activities and interactions, shaped by poverty and circumstance, are believable and poignant.
Because of the strong female characters in this book, “Playing St. Barbara” is often promoted to a female-only readership. This was not the case for the presentation held at our local library. At least 40% of the audience was male. The accurate depiction of the Depression era coal industry in the book piqued the interest of both men and women in our area. We had a great turnout for a great book. I highly recommend it.
Playing St. Barbara is the debut novel of Marian Szczepanski and it’s a powerful one that will stick with you long after you turn the last page. Marian takes us back to a time in history that I’ve not read much about and that is of life in a coal mining town back in the 1930′s during the depression. She takes us back in time and immerses us not only in her character’s lives but also in the atmosphere of time and place. This novel can feel quite bleak but it also shows the power of relationships between mothers and daughters and the courage it takes to once again love yourself enough to change your future.
The novel is told from the viewpoints of the three daughters Deidre, Norah, and Katie along with their mother Clare and always in the background is their father Fin, a very volatile and abusive man who handles the hard life of a miner and the poverty of the times by turning to alcohol. Deidre is one to stand up to her father and she takes it to the extreme when she decides to take up with a boy from the Company police. Katie seemed to be the delicate one to me wanting to dedicate her life to the convent but still loving the boy from her neighborhood that’s always been sweet on her. Now Norah is the one with secrets but also a desire to be something more than just another girl from the wrong end of town. However her secrets keep her tethered to home and her mother. Clare just made me sad. Overpowered by a man who took away her identity and life she struggles with secrets from the past that have her believing this is the life she deserves. Each of these women must learn to find their own way to a better life. Throughout it all the legend of St. Barbara lingers.
Clare was my favorite of the women even though I got so frustrated with her for enduring the abuse she did although she had her reasons. I think it’s hard to imagine but you have to take yourself back in time and feel what it would be like to be living such a hard life in a coal mining town such as Clare was. It’s a life full of hard work and fear of losing your men in the mines. Add to that an abusive husband and that life of hardship multiplies tenfold. Clare needed to find her voice again but does she have the strength after all the hardships she’s endured? Or will she just accept her lot in life?
I enjoyed this novel. It transported me to another time and place where I became invested in the characters and the lifestyle of this coal mining town. Playing St. Barbara is a great piece of historical fiction and I’ll be looking forward to reading more from Marian Szczepanski!
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