The Unquiet Earth: A Novel

by Denise Giardina

In this moving and brilliant follow-up to her acclaimed Storming Heaven , Denise Giardina returns to the coal field of Blackberry Creek, West Virginia, and its people who struggle to maintain their lives against the brutal forces of oppression, neglect, poverty, and disaster. At the heart of this novel, which spans from the 1930s through the 1980s, is principled, passionate Dillon Freeman and his more conventional cousin Rachel Honaker. Best friends as children, as they grow older they realize, and are torn apart by, their forbidden love for each other. Rachel consigns herself to a loveless marriage and careful avoidance of Dillon. He in turns enlists to fight in World War II, and, upon his return, against the big-time coal company and the dark shadow of destruction it casts across Blackberry Creek.

Rachel's daughter, Jackie, carries Dillon's activism and passion into the next generation. As Dillon fought, and was imprisoned, for union-organizing, Jackie, as a journalist, fights against injustice by exposing American Coal's methodical destruction of the community. And, like her mother, Jackie falls passionately in love with a young man with whom a conventional relationship is not possible. Tom Kolwecki, a Jesuit seminarian who arrives in Blackberry Creek as a Vista Volunteer, is powerfully attractive to her, but the pull of his religious vocation and the accidents of history and tragedies of nature render their unions stillborn.

Denise Giardina creates, with brutal honesty and painful insight, a carefully woven narrative tapestry and a generational saga that builds to a climax as shattering as any in recent American fiction.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Novels, Historical, Adult, Literature

374 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Often labelled an Appalachian writer, or a historical novelist, Denise Giardina describes herself as a theological writer, exploring fundamental issues of faith and belief through literary characters.

Born and raised in the West Virginia coalfields, Giardina is an ordained Episcopal Church deacon, a community activist and a former candidate for the WV state governorship.

Her novels, fictionalizing historical characters and events, have been critically acclaimed and recognised with a number of literary prizes.

Reviews

[Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note, Jan. 1, 2015: I edited this review just now, principally to incorporate spoiler tags (which didn't exist when I originally did the review) in one place.

I didn't rate this book as highly as my Goodreads friend Lynne did. It had, for me, several problematic features: there is an excessive amount of bad language, including a number of uses of the f-word, which is not justified by considerations of realism (arguably, some disadvantaged people talk this way -but do Catholic seminary students?); the explicit scenes of illicit sex and drug abuse, though few, were off-putting; and my tastes don't basically run to pessimistic, tragic works, which this one ultimately is. Also, if Tom considered his duty of priestly celibacy important enough to prevent him from marrying Jackie, how psychologically probable is it that he would deem it permissible to fornicate with her as long as he only did it once? (From a Protestant perspective, the contradictions in this situation constitute a powerful demonstration of the folly of the whole idea of priestly celibacy --though that wasn't necessarily the author's intention.)

However, there is a lot of thought-provoking social realism in this book --it provides a real eye-opener to the way miners in Appalachia's coal industry were (and still are) exploited and victimized by wealthy and powerful interests who can defy every consideration of legality and morality and get away with it. It's a book that will, and should, make you angry and ready to stand up for justice --it doesn't tell you concretely how to do that, but that isn't a novelist's responsibility. The reader comes to care about the characters, and their situations and sufferings are often depicted very movingly. And I appreciated the fact that Giardina (who is an Episcopal lay preacher) presents the role of Christianity in her character's lives and community in a basically favorable light.

[Ryann · Rating 5 out of 5]

My college English professor at Virginia Tech has us read that. Because we are near the mountains and our professor was from West Virginia, she chose this and Storming Heaven as our semester books. I learned a lot about how we can destroy our land to satisfy our need/want for nonrenewable resources, and the devastating impact it can have. This is a great novel for stirring up discussions and provoking thought.

[Tess Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

When my mother first handed me this book, weathered from when she'd first read it, and said "it's one of those Appalachian stories, I think you'll like it" I did not imagine it would make me cry three times and become possibly my favorite book I've ever read. Now I imagine I'll carry a copy of it with me everywhere I go. I had kind of given up on reading for a while, but this fed a tenderhearted flame in me that I forgot I had. I'd forgotten what it was like to read a book and weep over it, and for that, I will be forever grateful to Denise Giardina.

At the beginning of the story, I was rather disturbed by the premise of the relationship between the two main characters, who are first-cousins, extremely different people, and deeply in love. But as the story progressed, my disgust turned into a deep sadness, and a sort of longing to have that kind of love in my life. Not incestuous, but real. I have never read about a love like this, so forbidden and so strong.

The Unquiet Earth is a beautiful, heartbreaking, heinous, harrowing story that I wish there was more of. The time passes so quickly that it's like you're witnessing your own life passing you by. You feel like you had to have skipped some pages, and you try to hold on and feel like you're a part of things, but you're just on the outside, watching and wishing there was more. More time, more communication, more love, more life. Reading it, you wish you could change the course of the story so that it has a happier ending.

All that being said, it's an incredible story and I cannot recommend it enough.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This destroyed me. The way this book depicts love feels true and good to me even as it frightened and unsettled me. My friend Maria who has a giant brain made me read this and summarized the relationships between the characters this way: "the force of you has forever changed me and I can't do anything about it now." Yeah!!! I'm sick and I need at least a year to recover from the ending but I already want to read it again.

[John Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book begins in the 1930s, as her previous book STORMING HEAVEN, ends and the story is told by the children and grandchildren of the characters in the earlier novel as they make their way from the 1930s to 1990 in the mining towns of southern West Virginia. The earlier book was much more focused on the mining wars of the 1920s and 1930s, while this book has many different story lines of mining wars, romances, star-crossed lovers, and how these communities changed during the 20th Century. The earlier book was much more focused and it made it a stronger book, but this one gives a broad panorama of the changes that went through these towns and the impact they had on individuals over these 60 years. I enjoyed it.

[Johnny]

I taught this book in a Southern literature course. The first person voices give a solid account of the gritty lives of those in coal-frenzied West Virginia. There is an activist streak in the book, leavened by the heartbreak of personal experience.

[Ellen Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it. This is the second time I've read it, and I usually don't do that with most books. Great use of dialect, characterization. important story for the world to know, and how it has been happening through the generations. Finally, pres. Obama is putting the brakes on coal. If you don't know about the current mountain top removal methods in Eastern Ky and West VA, educate yourselves. book makes you laugh and cry.

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giardina's writing is so engaging. This book and Storming Heaven in which the story of a family continues, are wonderful stories, based on historical fact about what went on between coal companies and coal miners and their families in the days when the coal industry was booming.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moving love story that also educated me about the impact of coal mining companies in appalachia, specifically West Virginia. I would like to read more books by the author.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why I waited so long to read this book by our local author I loved revisiting the last few decades in WV with her.

[mariaaaaaa b · Rating 5 out of 5]

so many different layers here, so hard to talk about this book and what it means to me now. i had to read it for class, kind of rolled my eyes at first, but now it's probably one of my favorite books of all time. (also, there's a prequel! it is on its way to me! i am excited to find it in my mailbox! although i don't think it will get to me the same way this does.)

really complex emotions about how people are tied to the land that birthed them. made me really homesick for the mountains i grew up in, as short as that time was, and i think it's true that it never really leaves you, that it keeps calling back to you. i started to wonder if this is why i feel displaced even in the place i've lived in for the past fifteen years. anyways--

dillon and rachel's relationship was emotionally challenging to accept, and i think it teaches a really important lesson on the assumptions we make about appalachian communities and relationships. it's not complex, it's just a big love that couldn't be stopped, that wouldn't have gained anything by being stopped. my professor likened it to wuthering heights which is...so true. their relationship and love is almost more about the land that binds them together rather than them as individuals.

also some really important philosophical questions about the fatigue and futility of activism on this scale-- you can't give up, but you're fighting this insurmountably large militarized enemy, and by the 90s surveillance has increased to the point that you can't get away with blowing up tipples the way dillon did in the 60s. so it can feel aimless, and useless, but how can you give up?

please read this book <3

[John Tipper · Rating 4 out of 5]

An historical novel set mostly in West Virginia and Kentucky. In the last years of the Great Depression, Dillon wants to go fight Hitler, but the U.S. hasn't declared war yet. So he travels to Britain and joins the army there. His first cousin, Rachel, a nurse, joins the Army, and when WWII starts, she goes to the Pacific Theater. Dillon fights in North Africa where he sees terrible things. Buddies are killed, and he suffers PTSD. When the war is over, the two meet up back in the coal fields of West Virginia. Dillon takes a job as a miner. Rachel is a traveling County Nurse. Dillon wants to marry Rachel, but she's afraid of social disapproval and the health of their possible offspring. Dillon fights for the union against American Coal Company, headed by Arthur Lee, his protagonist. One night Rachel gives in to Dillon's advances, and later a child is born. She names the girl Rachel. She's already married Tony, but he seems unable to father kids. Tony, an accountant, drinks a lot, plays cards, and plays around with other women. Rachel divorces him and has an extended affair with Dillon. The novel is about the strife between the miners and management and romantic relationships. Giardina does a deft job of weaving the history of the area and the love lives.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not the first book I've read that chooses as its subject the coalfields of West Virginia, but it's probably the finest. The narrative runs from the 1930's during the Depression to the 1990's. The saga of coal miners is a tragic one in that the men were always the victims of the coal industrialists who cared only about profits, never about their workers or their workers' families. Men suffered from black lung, women were left widowed when coal tunnels caved in or gases exploded underground, families were kept in debt to company stores. WWII was the high point in coal mining as the mines worked overtime to feed the war industry, but as the war came to an end, coal production immediately began to drop off. Our current president foolishly says he'll bring back coal jobs...nonsense! Miners should be re-trained to maintain the wind turbines that are being erected across northeastern West Virginia on every mountain ridge where the winds are nearly constant...we see the numbers of them increase each time we travel from Cincinnati to northern Virginia to visit family there. No coal miner ever got rich digging coal; only the mine owners did.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unquiet Earth by Denise Gardina is about a coal mining town in West Virgina and Kentucky or along that border. It takes place between 1930-1990. Describing in detail the effects that the coal mining industry have on the people of this region. The main characters are Rachel Honaker, a nurse who is in love with her first cousin, Dillion, a union organizer, and their illegitmate daughter, Jackie, a newspaper editor. Other characters include a gay Mayor of the town, named Hassel, and a priest/Vista worker, named Tom, as well as one of the heads of the coal company, Arthur Lee. Much like the story above, the author shows us how the coal mining effects these people's lives and exactly what it does to the surrounding environment. Often in graphic detail. While at the same time showing us who these people are and what motivates them. It's a layered book, with tough characters. I can't say it engrossed me, and I did not cry during it. But the final chapter did haunt me long after I finished reading it and it is not a book that I will soon forget. It also reminded me a great deal of some of the things I saw in South Wales during the 1980s as the coal mining industry was shutting down.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the sequel to Storming Heaven and I would say is equally as good. Giardina's character work is really great; more than anything her novels are compelling and readable in a great way. I think this is a result of her well-drawn and realised characters. Each POV is distinct and provides a piece to the thematics of the book.

The incestuous relationship is a weird one here though. Weirdly one kind of forgets about how gross it is - it's one thing I'm not sure how to feel about. Why make one of the romances incestuous? Maybe its an upending of the stereotype of dumb incestuous hillbillies, maybe it's to demonstrate the power of a shared love of the land and place?

The language and images of a decaying place is really very good. The 'bone' dam, the scenes in the mines, the run-down camps and villages are all just provocative (poignant) and demonstrative of the negative influences of industry on land, place, and people.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A worthy sequel to "Storming Heaven."

I wish there were fewer similarities between the 1980s and the 1920s in West Virginia and Kentucky. Alas. And are they "still yet" engaging in mountaintop removal? Why is this allowed? Why does no one seem to care?

In addition to the importance of the theme, and the particular politics of this work, the characters, sub-plots, and sense of place are spot-on. You don't have to be pro-union to love this book, but I wonder why you would be pro-bigwig by the time you finish it.

[David Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing where Storming Heaven left off, Giardina's Appalachian story grows into an epic tragedy further emphasizing the plight of these mining communities. Though the incest may repel some readers, the book as a whole is a fantastic story, adding new perspectives such as Jackie (who spends most of the book as a child). It's just as good as Storming Heaven and is just as important to understanding the state of Appalachia.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Denise Giardina is an amazing writer. All these characters felt real, and so did the events. It was a pretty tragic sequel to Storming Heaven, but it was a perfect one. It showcases the pillage of Appalachia's natural resources and the consequences it has had on its people. The relationships felt a little forced in this one, and although I really don't love incest as a plot device, I thought it worked out well enough. Great storytelling.

[Emily Sherwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely extraordinary

[Ferenc · Rating 2 out of 5]

3/5 - Historical Fiction
2/5 - Adult Fiction
3/5 - Writing
2/5 - Characters
1/5 - Story

2.2/5 - Rating

[Hufflepuff Book Reviewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

“‘I’ll tell you something. There’s some that would save the world but think nothing to hurt those around them, and you [Dillon] are that way. There’s some that would be dammed for their politics but will be saved by their human kindness. Arthur Lee is that way.’”

Spoiler alert!

3.5 stars! A worthy sequel to Storming Heaven, The Unquiet Earth continues to explore the strife between the coal miners and the coal companies of the Appalachian mountains. Whereas Storming Heaven focuses primarily on just one generation of characters and takes place in the early 1900’s, The Unique Earth spans the two following generations, beginning in the 1930’s, as it is told primarily from the POV's of Dillon Freeman and Rachel Honaker (Carrie’s and Flora’s children from Storming Heavens) and ending in 1990, as it is told largely from the point of view of Rachel’s daughter, Jackie. Many of the minor characters of Storming Heaven—from Sam Gore to Isom Justice—have children who appear as characters in The Unquiet Earth, and it is lots of fun to see all the family connections unfold!

While subjectively I have a slight preference for the characters of Storming Heaven, the characters from The Unquiet Earth are arguably even better-developed and feel probably even more real. You have Dillon Freeman, who—like his father, Rondall Lloyd—longs to make a better world for humanity, but often behaves hurtfully in his words and deeds toward those individuals he cares most for. Unlike his father, though, Dillon contains a tremendous capacity to love and care for people, which adds to his complexity. You have Rachel Honaker, who—like her mother, Flora—longs to conform to society and seem like a proper lady. Unlike her mother, though, she is drawn into a taboo sexual relationship with her first cousin, Dillon. You have Arthur Lee, who seems on the surface like a kind and well-meaning individual who even dies a martyr’s death, as he sacrifices himself for the people of his community—but whose practices as a coal mining executive serve to create great suffering for his workers and prolong the infamous state of poverty in Appalachia. You have Hassel Day, who admittedly might not have been the most complex of characters, but whose curious mind and unrelenting spirit made him my favorite character of the series. And you have Tom Kolweicki, the character who resonated with me most on this reading. A candid and blunt Jesuit Priest who cusses and drinks beer and battles with lust, Tom falls very far from one’s automatic image of a priest. But Tom has a tremendous heart for God and for people, and he longs to do good in the world. Still, after witnessing tremendous suffering and getting tortured in Honduras, Tom begins to struggle to justify his faith. He still believes in God and aspires to do the work that God has for him, but Tom’s period of questioning causes him to cease praying. He begins to feel distant from God, and he starts drinking heavily. Tom’s brokenness and spiritual strife really resonated with me on this reading, as I have been feeling somewhat similar to him lately.

The characterization, to be clear, is by no means the only thing to appreciate about The Unquiet Earth. The writing is top-notch, as Giardina juggles even more narrators than she did in Storming Heavens. The plot is compelling, and the questions raised in the novel are fascinating and multi-layered.

Why only 3.5 stars, then? I can’t completely get behind some of the material in The Unquiet Earth. I am uncomfortable with a romance between first cousins being presented in a largely favorable light—especially seeing that they grew up on the same homeplace and should be like siblings for all intents and purposes. (Although I will acknowledge that some of the moral conundrums that are explored through this relationship are fascinating). I also found the sex scene between Tom and Jackie waay too sexually explicit. And I found it deeply problematic that Tom would declare immediately afterward, “I’ll confess the breaking of my vows, but what we’ve done was no sin.”

Even while I was uncomfortable with some of the material in The Unquiet Earth, it nonetheless serves as a worthy companion and heartfelt sequel to Storming Heaven. Anyone who liked the former book ought to gobble up this one!

[MBenzz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Did I like it as much as it's predecessor 'Storming Heaven'? No. But for a sequel, it was very good, and it takes you right into the lives of the offspring of the main characters from the first book.

In fact...this book is much like the first, just in more recent times. It spans from the 1930s to 1990. But to really understand the depth and tragedy of this town, you have to have read 'Storming Heaven' first. It will help you to understand just how long the fight has been going on, where Carrie, Rachel, Dillon, and Jackie all came from, and just how much this town has already been through.

Overall, I'm very glad I found these books. It was interesting to read about the coal strikes, the floods, and all the heartache that plagued the people of this small Appalachia coal mining town. If your at all interested about life in the mountains, and how these folks lived, then definitely pick these up. Ms. Giardina grew up in a town much like the one she portrays in her books, so you can be certain she knows what she's talking about. These may be fiction books, but they're a very real look at coal miners and their families, and all the hardships they had to face.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

For most city-dwellers, what's happening right now with toxic spills in Virginia, North Carolina, and West Virginia, may seem remote. This book gives a face to those human and environmental catastrophes. The author grew up in a coal camp in West Virginia and clearly knows whereof she writes. She draws her characters with skill, with a few details evokes the mountains and streams they love, and with a light touch draws connections between distant corporate interests and their local accomplices. As events move toward their tragic conclusion, we see that we are all implicated and all at risk.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in Appalachian history or in union and labor relations. It's a fictionalized version of the story of the Battle of Blair Mountain, documented in Lon Savage's book Thunder in the Mountains and fictionaalized in John Sayles' film Matewan. It is remarkably true to life, giving an accurate glimpse into life in the coal fields and coal camps. I'm heartened that those outside Appalachia are reading it as it's an important American story.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing of this book is still wonderful, but the story isn't as well done as Storming Heaven. The book spans more time, so the power is a little distilled, but I also didn't like the characters or secondary story line as much. Giardina focused much more on the characters' personal stories rather than how the coal camps affected those stories. The very end is probably the best part of the novel.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sequel to "Storming Heaven," follows the next generation of the characters as history repeats itself with their coal mining labor struggles and personal dramas. This book had even more narrators and spanned a longer stretch of time, which diluted the power of the story and left me wondering what the point was.

I hated the ending, even if its bleakness was appropriate. It left me with a terrible feeling -- probably the point -- but that's a risky way to end a book.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this earlier this year as part of the program that I work for. I like it...the storyline involving incest is a little weird, but as a whole it is a good story. It mentions a VISTA worker, which is exciting - and I would probably find this book more interesting than most b/c it takes place in a coal town, so I can relate and understand the mentality a but better now.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this sequel to Storming Heaven, Giardina continues to spin her tale about life in a shanty coal mining-camp during the Depression and beyond. The setting is much like that shown in ‘60’s news clips of Bobby Kennedy visiting impoverished Appalachian families. Giardina’s characters, their lives and their words are uncannily real. A terrific read.

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. Giving it four stars only because I can't give it 4.95 and I want to indicate that as much as I loved THE UNQUIET EARTH, the follow-up to Giardina's STORMING HEAVEN, I loved the first book just a smidge more. Both books are incredible, just gorgeous epic tales of the place I once called home.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a recent transplant to WV, this book provided a compelling perspective of the role of coal on the region, its environment and people. I really felt taken back to various times in history through the lenses of the characters in the story and was torn between empathizing with their deep connection to the land and people and wanting them to break free and move onto a better life.