Chase by Jessie Haas (3 1/2 out of 4 stars)--
Times were hard in coal country during the 1870s, and America was flooded with immigrants (with many more on the way) who sought a better life. The Molly Maguires, known as the Sleepers in Jessie Haas’s new novel Chase , were Irish union activists often accused of intimidation and even murder tactics. Although their intended goals, fair treatment and living wages for Irish miners, often seemed to be honorable, their heavy-handed tactics ultimately caused their demise. The mining companies were even worse than the Sleepers and ultimately infiltrated and discredited them. This backdrop of fear and tension serves as the setting for this novel in which a street-wise but inexperienced young man must struggle for survival against an unfair world.
Phin Chase does not have a traditional, wholesome home, but he generally gets what he needs. Orphaned and living in the empty room behind Murray ’s Tavern in a small Pennsylvania mining town, Phin’s greatest pleasure is going to the mining company boss’s office and reading one of the 22 books on the shelf. However, trouble is brewing, and Phin has heard the men talking about the toughness and possibly the cruelty of Engelbreit, the boss; he “drove his men like a demon, so the talk ran at Murray ’s” (3). Phin is in the wrong place at the wrong time when local malefactor and Sleeper Ned Plume murders Engelbreit and frames Phin, because he is not so cold that he can shoot a child in cold blood, but his limited conscience can allow Phin’s placement in immediate, mortal peril. This act that seemingly had nothing to do with Phin suddenly becomes the defining moment of his life. He has some brains, but Phin has been sheltered from the harshest realities by his late mother who incurred shame by living in a room behind a tavern but wanted only the best for her son. Although they need the money, Mom will not allow Phin to work, especially in the mines: “He could have gone to the mine and taken what work was offered. He didn’t because he half understood. She’d moved to Murray ’s for his sake, and while she didn’t mind what people said, she didn’t go there because she liked it. If Phin went into the mine, her sacrifice would be for nothing” (31). Phin starts running to avoid the law and the Sleepers, and he is chased not only by Ned Plume, who knows that Phin has important items belonging to him, but also by the mysterious Mr. Fraser: “What was he? Not a mule dealer, not really. He must be some kind of spy . . . If this man was a Pinkerton, was that good for Phin, or bad? Would he be viewed as a murderer or a witness?” (53). Phin’s frenetic journey takes him far from home and intertwines him with another family as he searches for a way out of his fatal dilemma.
Once this novel takes off, it soars at breakneck speed. It is a pleasure to watch likable and noble Phin grow up throughout his painful chase. He shows the kind of can-do resourcefulness we seek and foster in our students and possibly in ourselves. Like our best self-images, Phin is a hodgepodge of hopes, dreams, disappointments, and memories of happiness. We feel his pain as he runs from his former life and into a brave new world, if he can only grow up to enjoy it. Chase by Jessie Haas is a roller coaster ride that both satisfies and leaves the rider wanting more. It is the best kind of historical fiction: it informs and entertains.
Times were hard in coal country during the 1870s, and America was flooded with immigrants (with many more on the way) who sought a better life. The Molly Maguires, known as the Sleepers in Jessie Haas’s new novel Chase , were Irish union activists often accused of intimidation and even murder tactics. Although their intended goals, fair treatment and living wages for Irish miners, often seemed to be honorable, their heavy-handed tactics ultimately caused their demise. The mining companies were even worse than the Sleepers and ultimately infiltrated and discredited them. This backdrop of fear and tension serves as the setting for this novel in which a street-wise but inexperienced young man must struggle for survival against an unfair world.
Phin Chase does not have a traditional, wholesome home, but he generally gets what he needs. Orphaned and living in the empty room behind Murray ’s Tavern in a small Pennsylvania mining town, Phin’s greatest pleasure is going to the mining company boss’s office and reading one of the 22 books on the shelf. However, trouble is brewing, and Phin has heard the men talking about the toughness and possibly the cruelty of Engelbreit, the boss; he “drove his men like a demon, so the talk ran at Murray ’s” (3). Phin is in the wrong place at the wrong time when local malefactor and Sleeper Ned Plume murders Engelbreit and frames Phin, because he is not so cold that he can shoot a child in cold blood, but his limited conscience can allow Phin’s placement in immediate, mortal peril. This act that seemingly had nothing to do with Phin suddenly becomes the defining moment of his life. He has some brains, but Phin has been sheltered from the harshest realities by his late mother who incurred shame by living in a room behind a tavern but wanted only the best for her son. Although they need the money, Mom will not allow Phin to work, especially in the mines: “He could have gone to the mine and taken what work was offered. He didn’t because he half understood. She’d moved to Murray ’s for his sake, and while she didn’t mind what people said, she didn’t go there because she liked it. If Phin went into the mine, her sacrifice would be for nothing” (31). Phin starts running to avoid the law and the Sleepers, and he is chased not only by Ned Plume, who knows that Phin has important items belonging to him, but also by the mysterious Mr. Fraser: “What was he? Not a mule dealer, not really. He must be some kind of spy . . . If this man was a Pinkerton, was that good for Phin, or bad? Would he be viewed as a murderer or a witness?” (53). Phin’s frenetic journey takes him far from home and intertwines him with another family as he searches for a way out of his fatal dilemma.
Once this novel takes off, it soars at breakneck speed. It is a pleasure to watch likable and noble Phin grow up throughout his painful chase. He shows the kind of can-do resourcefulness we seek and foster in our students and possibly in ourselves. Like our best self-images, Phin is a hodgepodge of hopes, dreams, disappointments, and memories of happiness. We feel his pain as he runs from his former life and into a brave new world, if he can only grow up to enjoy it. Chase by Jessie Haas is a roller coaster ride that both satisfies and leaves the rider wanting more. It is the best kind of historical fiction: it informs and entertains.
posted by bduboff | 6:31 AM
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