Storming Heaven

Storming Heaven, written by American novelist Denise Giardina, is a 1987 novel based on historical events that took place in West Virginia in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In the 1800s, the railroads came in and purchased several family farms, and then sold the land to the coal companies. The coal companies forced the families to move off their land. If they chose to stay, their only option was to live in coal company-owned homes and work for the coal companies, which often involved dangerous working conditions. Many miners attempted to unionize but were banned from doing so by the coal companies, culminating in a massive strike, during which the United States Army greeted 10,000 pro-union minors with machine guns, bombs, and poison gas. Giardina’s acclaimed second book presents a novelized history of Southern Appalachia’s labor struggle circa 1920.

Each chapter of Storming Heaven is told from the point of view of one of four main characters: C. J. Marcum, Rondal Lloyd, Carrie Bishop, and Rosa Angelelli. C. J. Marcum grows up on his family farm but is eventually forced to move when the coal companies take over.