Review of The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash


Hello Readers,

Historical fiction is probably one of my favorite genres. I love being transported to the past and learning about topics and people I have never heard of. Plus I feel like it’s so far out of my real life that I can imagine whatever I want the scenes to look like in my mind. The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash transported me to 1929. I was there with Ella May Wiggins during the labor strikes. I was standing beside her the fateful day she decided to join the union. I was a character among the story because Wiley Cash writes a story that engrosses you. 

Several of you had said on Instgram that you had not heard of this book so I wanted to share the Amazon synopsis with you.

“Twelve times a week, twenty-eight-year-old Ella May Wiggins makes the two-mile trek to and from her job on the night shift at American Mill No. 2 in Bessemer City, North Carolina. The insular community considers the mill’s owners—the newly arrived Goldberg brothers—white but not American and expects them to pay Ella May and other workers less because they toil alongside African Americans like Violet, Ella May’s best friend. While the dirty, hazardous job at the mill earns Ella May a paltry nine dollars for seventy-two hours of work each week, it’s the only opportunity she has. Her no-good husband, John, has run off again, and she must keep her four young children alive with whatever work she can find.
When the union leaflets begin circulating, Ella May has a taste of hope, a yearning for the better life the organizers promise. But the mill owners, backed by other nefarious forces, claim the union is nothing but a front for the Bolshevik menace sweeping across Europe. To maintain their control, the owners will use every means in their power, including bloodshed, to prevent workers from banding together. On the night of the county’s biggest rally, Ella May, weighing the costs of her choice, makes up her mind to join the movement—a decision that will have lasting consequences for her children, her friends, her town—indeed all that she loves.
Seventy-five years later, Ella May’s daughter Lilly, now an elderly woman, tells her nephew about his grandmother and the events that transformed their family. Illuminating the most painful corners of their history, she reveals, for the first time, the tragedy that befell Ella May after that fateful union meeting in 1929.
Intertwining myriad voices, Wiley Cash brings to life the heartbreak and bravery of the now forgotten struggle of the labor movement in early twentieth-century America—and pays tribute to the thousands of heroic women and men who risked their lives to win basic rights for all workers. Lyrical, heartbreaking, and haunting, this eloquent novel confirms Wiley Cash’s place among our nation’s finest writers.”

When I first started reading the book I honestly was confused how he was going to extend the story. But Cash takes you into the lives and homes of so many intertwining characters. Awhile back I had said I was tired of reading books that took you from past to present. That is not the case in this book. The past to present and the contrasting stories from different interwoven characters was done so seamlessly. I loved it when I got to a new character that I didn’t realize was connected to this story or I got to read about a character who at the time I did not think was important. This book kept me me glued to to page to see how everyone was connected. 

The labor rights movement is not a topic of history that I knew very much about, but as I was reading The Last Ballad I felt like I was learning so much about a portion of history that is not much talked about. Equal labor rights were being fought for, but they didn’t want to fight for them alongside people who didn’t fit their ethnicities. No race mixing to fight for the same things. I am constantly amazed how absolutely unnecessary prejudice is. If you believe in something why wouldn’t you want everyone who believes in the same values as you on your side? 

Ella May was such a strong character. She loved her children and had lived an extremely hard life. All she wanted was for her children to not go hungry. Working in a dangerous mill for extremely low pay was not giving her or her children the life she wanted. Ella’s hard life is what put in her a drive to make a change for her family and for other families who were in the same position as her.

I absolutely loved this book. I think my husband thought I was a broken record telling him every time he saw me reading The Last Ballad how good it was. I would highly recommend reading this book if you love a good story extremely well told. Historical fiction lovers should go right now and request this book from the library or pick it up at the book store. It’s so worth read. 

Overall rating - 5/5 Stars

Thank you to William Morrow Books for supplying me with an a review copy of The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash. I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash

Hardcover: 384 pages
Release Date: October 3, 2017
Publisher: William Morrow; 1st Edition edition 
ISBN-10: 0062313118

Happy Reading,
Rachael

Comments

  1. Hi Rachael, I hope you’re doing well! I’m a publicist for Aurora Publicity, and represent Minnesota author Jenna Zark, of historical middle grade novel – The Beat on Ruby’s Street. I came across Reading Brings Joy, and I would love to offer you an ecopy for review if you're interested. You can reach me at Pam.Labbe@aurorapublicity.com

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