What is the price of copper?

It’s the summer of 1913. Death is commonplace in this small mining town in Michigan.

Annie Clements’ husband works in the mines. Despite his reluctance to join the union, Annie recognizes its potential after yet another neighbor dies a preventable death. Soon she organizes the other wives, mothers, and sisters to translate union materials into the 33 languages spoken in their community. Through their galvanizing efforts to enlist the men, enough votes are called for a strike. 

Soon the Women's Auxiliary is not only planning marches, but organizing food and clothing banks. Annie not only takes the lead behind the scenes, but can be seen at the head of every parade carrying the American flag.  “Although men are the backbone of the union,” Maria Doria Russell writes in The Women of Copper Country, “women are its heart and soul.”

James MacNaughton, general manager of Calumet & Hecla, prides himself on the neat appearance of the homes and businesses of his domain, but neglects to remember the names of his household staff. He stubbornly refuses to negotiate. The strike continues.  

As summer turns to fall and then winter, the strikers are galvanized by visitors such as Mother Jones and threatened by a team of professional strikebreakers. In addition to her cast of unforgettable characters, many drawn from real life, Russell gives us a glimpse of not only early 20^th century working conditions, but its penal system, photojournalism, politics, and attitude toward immigrants.

Just as the novel begins with a death, so it ends with a tragedy that leaves no family unaffected. Broken-spirited, those that haven't left town return to the mines. In a turn of poetic injustice, upon his return, each man is required to pay five cents to buy a gold watch of “gratitude” for MacNaughton.