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“Gertie for the first time really looked at the rows of little shed-like buildings, their low roofs covered with snow, the walls of some strange grey-green stuff that seemed neither brick, wood, nor stone. She had glimpsed them briefly when they turned into the side road, but had never thought of them as homes. She had hardly thought of them at all, they were so little and so still against the quivering crimson light, under the roaring airplane, so low after the giant smokestacks.” It is the early 1940,’s. Back home in Kentucky, Gertie’s husband Clovis has lost his job hauling coal because all the coal-miners have been drafted to serve in the war. Men like Clovis, who have been turned away at the enlistment office, feel the tug to go to Detroit, where the lure of big dollars for factory work drives them from their homes. Once settled, he sends for his wife and children, but Detroit, and their hopes, become tarnished and dirty as reality sets in. This novel was originally published in 1954, and yet, it could certainly be a best-seller if published today. The themes are still relevant and Gertie’s struggles come alive once immersed in this beautiful, highly readable, tragic book. There is such a sense a place here. We see clearly the Kentucky countryside, barely life-giving, but yet stunning and loving in a way that families sometimes are. It is home to Gertie, it is what she knows and it is what can sustain her. And in contrast, the cramped, grey, dirty Detroit. It is cold and suffocating and Gertie must not only make it her home, she must make familiar that which is so alien to her. There is no happy ending in this book. It is about real life. Sometimes things go the way we wish, and sometimes not. Sometimes you must just endure. I live in North Dakota, where a huge oil boom is happening in the western part of the state. Due to the national economic downturn, thousands of men show up there, looking for work, pinning their hopes on the good paying jobs that can be found there. But reality soon sets in. Like Gertie, they find that the work is hard and the hours are long. The pay, which would be great back home, barely seems to make ends meet as high demand pushes prices upward. And while the need for workers is great, the towns in the west cannot provide the infrastructure and housing fast enough. Cheap, modular units, built to house the workers, are the equivalent of Gertie’s cramped shed-like houses. They come there to work, but all the while, they dream of going back home. The Dollmaker is a timeless achievement, with unforgettable characters and a rich in the strength of human adversity. Highly recommend. 4 1/2 stars.

2022-11-14 14:05