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3.5 

Holding the Line

By Barbara Kingsolver
Holding the Line by Barbara Kingsolver digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

The women tell remarkable stories of their lives and actions.... This book pays powerful tribute to their resolve and passion for economic justice.― Publishers Weekly

Holding the Line, Barbara Kingsolver's first non-fiction book, is the story of women's lives transformed by an a signal event. Set in the small mining towns of Arizona, it is part oral history and part social criticism, exploring the process of empowerment which occurs when people work together as a community. Like Kingsolver's award-winning novels, Holding the Line is a beautifully written book grounded on the strength of its characters.

Hundreds of families held the line in the 1983 strike against Phelps Dodge Copper in Arizona. After more than a year the strikers lost their union certification, but the battle permanently altered the social order in these small, predominantly Hispanic mining towns. At the time the strike began, many women said they couldn't leave the house without their husband's permission. Yet, when injunctions barred union men from picketing, their wives and daughters turned out for the daily picket lines. When the strike dragged on and men left to seek jobs elsewhere, women continued to picket, organize support, and defend their rights even when the towns were occupied by the National Guard.

"Nothing can ever be the same as it was before," said Diane McCormick of the Morenci Miners Women's Auxiliary. "Look at us. At the beginning of this strike, we were just a bunch of ladies."

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13 Reviews

3.5
Surprised Face with Open Mouth““We’re not dumb; we can see what’s happening… the time has come to tell them we don’t want to be taken care of… We’re going to take care of ourselves now.” This was an eye opening account of the 1983 mining strike against Phelps Dodge in Arizona. The evolution of the women who first began fighting for the workers rights of their husbands, soon used their own words (and fists) to fight for their own rights. As the struggle increased in size, so did the might of Phelps Dodge, and the will of the women holding the line. This was the first book Barbara Kingsolver published. At the time, she was a reporter. This book very much feels like a news reporter wrote it. There is a lot of detail that bogged down the story in some ways, but was perhaps necessary. The humanity of the women defending their families always shines through.”
Surprised Face with Open Mouth“Great nonfiction account of the early 1980s Arizona Copper Mine Strike and the women's role in it. An early Kingsolver book, the women are described fully and respectfully. Be prepared to be horrified at the mistreatment of all of the strikers.”

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