Vance Tregarvon leaves the refined streets of Philadelphia for the raw, ruthless world of the Tennessee coal fields, where civilization is measured in muscle and survival. Set against the clangor of the Ocoee mines, this is a story of a man testing himself against a landscape that demands everything and gives nothing back. Tregarvon arrives with education, ambition, and a certain gentility, but the mountain has no patience for such things. He must learn to think like the men who tunnel deep into the earth for wages that barely keep hunger at bay, while navigating the dangerous currents of labor unrest, class warfare, and the unexpected pull of a spirited mountain woman named Richardia. The bullets fly fast in these hills, and trust is a currency harder to come than coal. Francis Lynde captures a pivotal moment in American industrial history with sharp eyes and no sentimental illusions, asking what remains of a man when you strip away everything but his will to endure.
