Jack: The Almost True Story of the Molly Maguires

by Jaclyn Maria Fowler

Jaclyn Fowler was destined to write a novel about John ("Black Jack") Kehoe. Kehoe's unflinching courage stands in sharp contrast to the perfidious, relentless opposition of Franklin B. Gowen, the anti-union railroad lawyer. Her research is impeccable; her characters jump off the page and her story will turn over the heart of any reader who has one. I must add that this is a novel ensconced in a brilliant frame-Jaclyn's own story of growing up in an Irish-American family. Fowler's stunning rendering of Kehoe's heroic tale is dramatic, Dreiserian and delicious. J. Michael Lennon, author most recently of Mailer's Last Remembrances of a Life in Literature. Jaclyn Fowler has created an unforgettable historical novel. Her powerful writing is enhanced by extensive research as she debunks Pennsylvania lore concerning Jack Kehoe, the falsely accused Molly Maguire, charged with practicing vigilante justice in the northeastern coalfields. Fowler seasons the story with an autobiographical slant. Having grown up in the area listening to her father, also named Jack, render tales of the mining atrocities, Fowler aims to right the wrongs of that difficult time. Jackie Fowler's novel deserves to be set alongside Angle of Repose , Wallace Stegner's Pulitzer Prize winning novel. Nancy McKinley, author of St. Christopher on Pluto A storyteller at heart, Jaclyn Maria Fowler comes from a long line of raconteurs and wanderers who all trace their lineage back to Ireland. She, too, travels to write and writes to travel, and following in the footsteps of her ancestors, tells the stories of Ireland and the Irish diaspora. To pay for her obsession, she works as Chair of the English Department at American Public University System (APUS). She is the author of It is Myself that I Remake and No One Radiates Love Alone . Fowler has also published many short stories, including The Other Day I Found a Penny in the Street in the 2020 Colorado Book Award winning anthology, Women of the Desert in the Wanderlust Best of '20 anthology, and In the Summer Before Third Grade in the 2022 Fish Anthology. Fowler received her Doctorate from The Pennsylvania State University and her MFA from Wilkes University. She is the proud mother of two grown children-Katlyn and Collin-who tell their own stories in writing, and lives with Doodles, a pampered shitzu mix.

366 pages, Paperback

Published September 24, 2023

Reviews

[janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over 140 years later, the battle between corporate greed and fair working conditions rages on. I see a lot of parallels in reading Jack Kehoe's story and the pro-/anti-union debates that continue now .

It was a good book, I enjoyed reading it, but I felt helpless to try and do something while reading it.

[Johnathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice novel and historical information. However, I did find it confusing at times. I also found it difficult to retain all the story. I feel that certain areas succeed and had me fully focused. Other parts were just filler. I felt it was hard to keep focused on the story.

[John A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written account of Jack Kehoe, his life and the social strife endured by the Irish Catholics in PA's mine towns.

[Margaret Beutler · Rating 2 out of 5]

WAY to many characters and run ons about them...alot no relevant to the entire story. It is taking all my energy to finish it..for a bookclub.