The Long Winter Ends
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Thomas, Newton G. / Mulligan, William Hughes, Jr., PUBLISHER: Wayne State University Press, A reprint of ong>theong> novel by Newton G. Thomas, ong>Theong> Long Winter Ends tells ong>theong> story of a year in ong>theong> life of a young emigrant miner who leaves Cornwall, a peninsula at ong>theong> southwestern end of England, to work in ong>theong> copper mines of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Typical of emigrant miners drawn to ong>theong> new mines in America after copper and tin mine closings in Cornwall, Jim Holman journeys to Michigan from Stoke, Cornwall, and spends his first year living in a boarding house with oong>theong>r Cornish miners. Through Jim's story, ong>Theong> Long Winter Ends offers a glimpse into ong>theong> lives of an often neglected immigrant group that played an important role in ong>theong> development of ong>theong> Great Lakes and American mining industries since ong>theong> s. Drawing on his own experience as a young Cornish immigrant in ong>theong> mining communities of ong>theong> Upper Peninsula, Thomas incorporated firsthand knowledge of ong>theong> work routines of underground mining, as well as ong>theong> inflections and patterns of Cornish speech, into this novel. With an introduction providing information about ong>theong> cultural history of ong>theong> Cornish, this narrative traces a Cornish emigrant's experience, including details about ong>theong> failure of ong>theong> mines in Cornwall, his hopes to preserve Cornish traditions in America, and ong>theong>n finally his acceptance of a future in America.