The Cartographer of Eldridge Hollow

About this book

In 1952, eighty-year-old Elias Hawthorne gathers the youth of Eldridge Hollow to recount the defining summer of 1921. Decades earlier, a bitter miners' strike paralyzed their West Virginia coal town, driving a wedge between the destitute workers and the wealthy mine owners. When relentless rains threaten a catastrophic flood, Elias, a dedicated schoolmaster, forms an unlikely alliance with Finley Caldwell, the sixteen-year-old heir to the local coal empire. Together, they use Finley's secret artistic talents to map the vulnerable riverbanks, battling mutual distrust and escalating class warfare. As the Blackwater River breaches its dams, Elias and Finley must unite the fractured community to build a desperate levee. It is a story of survival, the bridging of divides, and the forging of an enduring co-operative legacy.

Book details

Genres:

Historical Fiction, Young Adult

Language:

en

Published:

2026-04-02

Content rating:

G