Storming Heaven

Storming Heaven, written by American novelist Denise Giardina, is a 1987 novel based on historical events that took place in West Virginia in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In the 1800s, the railroads came in and purchased several family farms, and then sold the land to the coal companies. The coal companies forced the families to move off their land. If they chose to stay, their only option was to live in coal company-owned homes and work for the coal companies, which often involved dangerous working conditions. Many miners attempted to unionize but were banned from doing so by the coal companies, culminating in a massive strike, during which the United States Army greeted 10,000 pro-union minors with machine guns, bombs, and poison gas. Giardina’s acclaimed second book presents a novelized history of Southern Appalachia’s labor struggle circa 1920.

Each chapter of Storming Heaven is told from the point of view of one of four main characters: C. J. Marcum, Rondal Lloyd, Carrie Bishop, and Rosa Angelelli. C. J. Marcum grows up on his family farm but is eventually forced to move when the coal companies take over. He moves onto Justice Farm, a large plot of land owned by Ermel Justice, who also runs the small town of Annadel, one of the few areas that hasn’t been taken over by the coal companies. C. J. Marcum was a close friend of Dillon Lloyd’s, the uncle of Rondal Lloyd, who ran off when the coal companies took over. Because of this, C. J. looks out for Rondal and eventually convinces him to move out of his family’s coal company-owned house and work with him at Ermel Justice’s store.

Rondal grew up with his parents and two younger brothers, Talcott and Kerwin. When Rondal becomes old enough, his father forces him to come work with him in the coal mines. After a dangerous incident, C. J. invites Rondal to live with him in Annadel. C. J. is heavily involved in politics and believes the miners need to form a union in order to fight for better conditions, and he begins teaching Rondal his beliefs. Rondal eventually decides to move back home and go back to work in the mines, thinking he can better unionize the miners if he is one of them. He writes to union organizers in Charleston and asks them to help him form a union. But the coal company’s brutal guards find out that Rondal is trying to form a union and force him to leave town, causing Rondal to take up the name Lloyd Justice.

Carrie Bishop grows up on the Homeplace, her family’s farm in Kentucky. One spring, a boy named Albion Freeman comes to live with them, and he and Carrie become close. However, Albion must leave the following fall. Carrie decides to become a nurse and goes to work on a coal mine where her brother Miles is the superintendent. There, she meets a coal miner named Lloyd Justice. She and Lloyd Justice spend the night together and Carrie loses her virginity to him, but the next morning Lloyd Justice tells her it was a mistake. Soon, Miles learns that Lloyd Justice is really Rondal Lloyd, and that he has been kicked out of another coal mining town, and Miles has no choice but to kick Rondal out too.

Rosa Angelelli is an Italian immigrant whose father forces her to marry a mean, drunk man named Mario and move with him from Sicily to West Virginia. Rosa and Mario have four sons. Rosa works as a maid for Lytton Davidson, the coal mine operator.

Carrie eventually moves home to the Homeplace. One day, Albion, now a Baptist preacher, passes through. Carrie tells Albion about her past with Rondal, but Albion still asks Carrie to marry him. Carrie and Albion move to the coal mines near Annadel because Albion feels called to preach there. Eventually, Albion and Carrie become involved with C. J. and Rondal, who has returned, and they work together to form a union. After a brutal explosion that kills many miners, including Rosa’s four sons, the union decides that it’s time to take action, and the miners go on strike. The miners are evicted from their homes, forcing them to live in tents.

Isom, Ermel’s son, along with C. J. and Albion, decide to arrest the guards responsible for evicting families as they pass through Annadel. But as they approach the guards on the train platform, the guards say they have papers to arrest Isom and C. J. instead. This results in a shootout, killing C. J. and about seven guards.

The governor declares martial law, and state police swarm the tent colonies, arresting hundreds of men including Albion and Isom. They say Albion and Isom must stand trial for the murder of the guards at the train station, though both Albion and Isom are innocent. One night, Carrie is taking a walk when a train full of guards passes by and shoots at the tents. A bullet hits Carrie’s arm and she is forced to return to the Homeplace until she recovers. Carrie finally returns to Annadel the night before Albion and Isom’s trail. But on their way to the trial the next morning, guards show up and shoot Albion and Isom, killing them both. Heartbroken, Carrie returns to the Homeplace. However, one evening, Rondal arrives and insists Carrie move to Charleston with him to work as a nurse while Rondal continues to work for the union. Eventually, the union decides to organize a massive march over Blair Mountain and into Justice County to protest against the coal companies. This event culminates in the Battle of Blair Mountain, causing President Harding to send in the U. S. Army, calling it an armed rebellion. Rondal is shot during the battle and becomes paralyzed from the waist down. The union is finally forced to retreat. Carrie, who is pregnant with Rondal’s baby, takes him back with her to the Homeplace. Rondal dies shortly after the baby is born.