Copper Divide: A Novel

by Beth Kirschner

Copper Divide is one woman’s story of friendship tested by a society torn apart by a labor strike that resulted in the 1913 Italian Hall Disaster.

In 1913, a massive and violent copper miners’ strike split the once-peaceful community surrounding Calumet, Michigan. Thousands are protesting and rioting in the streets. The National Guard is sent in and stays for months.

Hannah Weinstein is a Jewish merchant’s daughter, certain that the interruption of her college classes is the worst the strike will bring to her relatively comfortable life. Her Finnish friend Nelma, however, is married to a striker, and places herself on the front lines of the dispute.

When a train pulls in with a hundred scab miners, tensions escalate, and two of the scabs are shot. Their murder compels Hannah to join a Citizens’ Alliance opposing the strike - and with it, Nelma. As the strike grows more and more deadly, Hannah and Nelma must find a way to reconcile and end the conflict without further violence, or their town - and their friendship - will be destroyed forever.

215 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2021

About the author

Beth Kirschner grew up in upstate New York, went to college in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, and has traveled widely across the United States and the world.

The Keweenaw Peninsula is the setting for her debut novel, Copper Divide, where snow fall of over 300 inches a year is a common occurrence. Her upcoming novel takes place in the American southwest, where summer temperatures routinely reach over 100 degrees.

Her writing has moved from poetry to travel journals, short stories, and novels. When not writing, she works as a software engineer, flies single engine airplanes, and tries to takes the path less traveled. She has two grown children, two large cats, and a room of her own for imagining her next story

Reviews

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure - the author was my housemate when we went to school in the Copper Country. I have to wonder if that creaky old house we lived in was a rooming house that rented out to miners. But we haven't spoken in years. I didn't even know she was writing. But I was excited to read the book because I love historical fiction, especially if it's a subject or place to which I have a connection, & there are so few books written about the U.P. (that's Michigan's Upper Peninsula, for those unfamiliar).
Beth did a great job capturing the spirit of the time & place. Importantly, she tells a story from multiple perspectives, providing us with a good reminder that right/wrong isn't always simple, or black & white. All the characters were good, hardworking people, & none of them were evil. Of course we didn't get to know any of the mine bosses - I'm fairly certain I'd feel differently about them! As is typically the case, even today, the little people on all sides of a conflict are the ones bearing the brunt.
The story is beautifully written. Beth transported me to Hancock & I could practically feel the inside of my nose freeze up even though it was nearly 100 degrees in California that day. I'm now itching for a visit & hungry for a pasty at the Suomi Cafe!

[Ai Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program, and I am grateful to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

An interesting look at the Calumet copper mine strikes and the Italian Hall disaster, seen through the eyes of community members with investments in the strike, either for or against. It did feel a little heavy on the perspectives of people opposed to the strike--a 2:1 ratio of narrators. I don't need it to necessarily be balanced, but I think adding the perspective of a union organizer might be useful to give better depth to how the workers were actually trying to change things (though I understand the impulse to instead focus on the wives of workers.)

But what really moved it down from 4 stars to 3.5 for me was how quickly it ended? I literally kept tapping my ereader thinking there would be another page, it felt that quickly cut off.

I do think this book showcased the diversity of workers and the community around mining in northern Michigan, which is something that can often be swiped under the rug, and I think the glance especially into the ways that Jewish people (who are often erased from these kinds of histories) lived, worshipped together, and worked might be really cool for people to read.

Overall this was an interesting look at an event that maybe is not well known to people outside the region (or who, in my case, don't have a labor historian for a parent,) but felt surface at times and ended so abruptly I was literally confused when there wasn't more.

[Jack Ori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up because I enjoy historical fiction that addresses social issues.

For the most part, I couldn't put it down.

The way the conflict between the strike supporters and non supporters tore the community apart and the (historically accurate) violence was disturbing. The dual perspectives of two young women caught up in the conflict made this book for me, and the subtext of both women being trapped in a life smaller than what they wanted was equally emotional.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an interesting period of time, especially if you live in the Midwest where things like copper, iron ore and timber are such a finite resource yet a huge part of our economy. Calumet is an incredible place to visit and reading this book made me feel like I was there at the time of the strike. Hard to imagine this was just over 100-years ago. Definitely worth reading.

[Susan Rogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In contrast to Mary Doria Russell's The Women of the Copper Country, this book reveals a fuller approach to the strike of 1913 as it portrays the contrast between the community members who supported the strike and those who did not.

[Matthew William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!!

[Kristiina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed. Slanted against the union point of view.