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#coppercountryread
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megnews
The Women of the Copper Country | Mary Doria Russell
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Everyone‘s participation made this a truly special read for me! Thank you!

#overbookedclub #coppercountryread

sblbooks @megnews I agree, we had some good discussion, throughout the month. Thanks for hosting this month! 5y
Crazeedi Great read!! 5y
CoffeeNBooks I'm glad I read this book! I wouldn't have known about it otherwise, and I think I really learned a lot from reading it. Thanks for hosting! 5y
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kspenmoll Wonderful book! I learned so@much... sorry to miss the live discussion! 5y
megnews @kspenmoll we don‘t quite have a live discussion. feel free to add comments anytime! 5y
megnews @CoffeeNBooks thanks for joining us! 5y
7 likes6 comments
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megnews
The Women of the Copper Country | Mary Doria Russell
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sblbooks I thought it was moving how much it affected the town doctor. Even though he had seen death many times, he was not able to see his little girl's feet uncovered after that.😢 5y
Chrissyreadit @sblbooks I agree. That was moving. I also felt satisfaction when the guy quit after going to all the families on behalf of the company. 5y
megnews @sblbooks I had forgotten that. I should take notes! That was so awful. 5y
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megnews @Chrissyreadit I did too. 5y
marleed In the Skype interview the author had with my IRL bookclub she explained this fire was a blip in bad new of the time with WWI and influenza killing thousands. That makes it even more heartbreaking. 5y
kspenmoll @sblbooks The doctor‘s response was so moving, especially when he saw the contrast of his own children alive and well, and his trying to get the news out. 5y
Lcsmcat @Chrissyreadit @megnews That hit me too. 5y
4 likes7 comments
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megnews
The Women of the Copper Country | Mary Doria Russell
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megnews Will you laugh at me if I say I already can‘t remember the riot? I read too much 😂 5y
Chrissyreadit I would say Eva‘s growth was one of my favorite parts of the book. 5y
sblbooks @Chrissyreadit I agree, she was one of the most affected by the riot. 5y
marleed I think that since Eva was a completely fictional character the author was able to fill her with the hope this story had to have. The lives of the actual people are just heartbreaking. 5y
3 likes4 comments
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megnews
The Women of the Copper Country | Mary Doria Russell
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megnews One day you‘re satisfied with the stagnant relationship. The next day you‘ve changed and want so much more. Annie outgrew her husband and he was unsatisfied having a wife that couldn‘t be satisfied with status quo not just about the union but the relationships between men & women then. 5y
sblbooks @megnews Well said! 5y
marleed Underground mining in the day did not lend itself to men seeking to understand the lives of the women they married. They worked so hard for so little that any grievance of a woman above ground likely didn‘t register to them. 5y
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megnews Great way to put it @marleed 5y
kspenmoll @marleed An unimaginably backbreaking, suffocating, terrifying job deep inside the earth...all that & barely scraping by. May be hard to have any energy left over to do or feel much else. 5y
kspenmoll @megnews You said all so well! Annie‘s husband seemed at times mystified, bewildered, angry, and totally unable to cope with her growing & changing. 5y
marleed @kspenmoll @megnews I think when you work a job that is so incredibly dangerous, you earn little money and no respect all while visibly witnessing the riches go to a man who barely recognize your humanity- you can‘t respect yourself. In those situations the head of the household reigns power where he can - his wife and children. Dignity is so crucial to society. 5y
megnews @marleed makes perfect sense. Reminds me of Maslow‘s hierarchy of needs. 5y
4 likes8 comments
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megnews
The Women of the Copper Country | Mary Doria Russell
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Chrissyreadit My main thought is that she only had a public persona- there was not room for a private one. 5y
marleed She was thrice married and divorced from abusive, alcoholic man. Her daughter was also married and divorced from an abusive man. Apparently, some people praise her but others hold her accountable for the bad resulting from the aftermath of the strike. What I‘m grateful for is that today a woman doesn‘t need a man to negotiate life. 5y
3 likes2 comments
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megnews
The Women of the Copper Country | Mary Doria Russell
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megnews The Orphan Trains show the continuing westward expansion of the US. Jacob Riis‘s photos were attempting to bring about social change in the same way the strike was. 5y
Chrissyreadit I only learned about orphan trains when I read 5y
Chrissyreadit It was a reminder that America has consistently had a cruel streak. I did not know anything about Jacob Riis other then a section a beach in NYC is named after him. 5y
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sblbooks It was another example of how the poor are exploded by those well off. Some Orphan Train Riders were not treated well by their new families, but used as free labor. 5y
megnews @sblbooks so true! So sad. I don‘t know how people could look at young children and treat them like that. 5y
rubyslippersreads @Chrissyreadit That‘s been on my TBR list for ages. 5y
Chrissyreadit @rubyslippersreads I thought it was a great book! Hope you get to it and enjoy it! 5y
4 likes7 comments
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megnews
The Women of the Copper Country | Mary Doria Russell
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megnews Little side story that made me think of him. I visited the Cleveland history center recently & toured this wondrous mansion that a woman built I think 32 rooms to retire to by herself with a staff of 32. Then decided she didn‘t want to live there after all & it sat vacant. tour guide said at one time there were about 80 millionaires in America about 60 of which lived in Cleveland-Rockefeller‘s etc. I just thought what a shame for a woman to ⬇️ 5y
megnews Have that much and waste it, letting it sit empty while the people who made her wealthy enough to do that were tired & cold & hungry. Made me think of the same disparities in Calumet. (edited) 5y
Chrissyreadit Wow! Extreme wealth has not changed much. These are very thoughtful questions! I think having the perspective demonstrated how separate he viewed himself- the same way racism occurs- us vs them. 5y
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sblbooks I keep thinking about how he didn't even know his staff's name; nor did he know the names of any of the miners when they died. It just shows how uncaring he was, it was all about making a dollar. 5y
megnews @marleed that sounds good! Stacked. 5y
megnews @sblbooks or how to take a roast out of the oven! I pictured him just shriveling away to nothing with no servants because he never learned how to do a thing for himself or an honest day‘s work. 5y
rubyslippersreads His time-management techniques (without the evil) reminded me of 5y
megnews @rubyslippersreads I haven‘t read or seen that. 5y
rubyslippersreads @megnews In the book (I‘m not sure about the old and new movie versions), the parents are efficiency experts. 5y
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megnews
The Women of the Copper Country | Mary Doria Russell
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megnews I picture the men as waking up, going to work with a grunt, coming home to a meal with a grunt, & going to bed. Women did everything else. They had to communicate to get recipes, find cures for children‘s sickness, commiserate over the toughness of life & the common denominator of death. They had to find a way out of necessity. 5y
Chrissyreadit Yes!! I think it could not be very different then sharing, showing someone food and letting them taste, sharing medicinals, children helping you translate- everyone coughs or gives birth in the same language. 5y
rubyslippersreads I think, like @Chrissyreadit said, they learned to communicate in other ways than just words. 5y
4 likes3 comments
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megnews
The Women of the Copper Country | Mary Doria Russell
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Some of us already discussed this a little and have heard the author speak on it.
#overbookedclub #coppercountryread

Chrissyreadit What does the author say about it? 5y
megnews @chrissyreadit I tagged you where we talked about it 5y
Chrissyreadit Hmm. I think tragedy is right. 5y
marleed Tragedy. Actually the author was reminded of Juliet‘s father when writing of the actual mine-owner (real dude and more villainous they any fictional character she had written). How Juliet‘s would sacrifice his daughter for power. 5y
3 likes4 comments
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megnews
The Women of the Copper Country | Mary Doria Russell
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megnews This was probably used for numerous reasons but for me it made her larger than life. It also made her stand out as a leader from all the rest. 5y
Chrissyreadit I think it also indicated she did not quite fit in and understood what it was like to be an outsider- the one thing all the different groups of immigrants had in common. 5y
megnews Ooh @Chrissyreadit I like that! 5y
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sblbooks I think it was mentioned because she was looked at as not ladylike. From a young age she had to overcome prejudice. I feel it made her stronger, more of a leader. 5y
megnews @sblbooks she definitely took on what would have been a man‘s role. I think she did learn to use what others saw as a detriment, for good. 5y
rubyslippersreads I think it was because it was more unusual at that time for women to be tall, so she stood out more than she would now. Also, as @sblbooks said, it made her seem less “ladylike,” which in those days was valued by society more than her brains or her bravery. 5y
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