I woke up this morning to this review of Rednecks from Shaun Slifer, Creative Director at the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum. I have to say this one means one hell of a lot to me coming from someone who knows the story, material, and minutiae so well.
“That’s the power of fiction…the force of bringing the story right to your gut and making you feel it in a way that a work of straight history may never be able to make ‘real’, including and in particular the most uncomfortable parts. Taylor Brown’s forthcoming novel Rednecks is this kind of book, and it’s an absolute stick of dynamite.”
One of the most rewarding aspects is that Shaun, who designs the museum’s exhibitions and works hands-on cataloguing the museum’s many artifacts from the era, is in a rare position to recognize the deep digging for authenticity and detail that went into the book — the way it was built from the dirt up, from old shell casings and transcripts, obscure photos and actual objects from the battle itself.
“I found myself nodding along at so many little details while reading Rednecks, constantly registering the historical facts and sources that Taylor was working with. I couldn’t help it, I’ve been digesting the minutiae of this history for years, and so I could tell you that Taylor has ‘done his research’, but that’s honestly selling it short. He’s dug about as deep as you can go, pulling experiences from everywhere: from obscure photo captions and court transcripts, oral histories and actual objects on exhibit in the museum, building a novel from the grains of historical reality, piece by piece by piece.”
I just want to thank Shaun and everyone at the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum for all of the work they do to unbury and illuminate this vital piece of history. Y’all go see them in Matewan!
A pencil pressed into a shell casing, found at Adkins Fork.
And if you haven’t preordered Rednecks yet, you can do it right here: https://read.macmillan.com/lp/rednecks/
