Author: Jess Walter
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Published: October 27, 2020
Publisher: Harper Perennial
View on Goodreads
Date Completed: May 28, 2025
My rating: 
Thoughts
Being a transplant into Spokane, Washington, I was fascinated to read a book set in Spokane by a local author.
The story takes place in the early 1900s and really looks into the labor disputes and unionizing that was happening in Spokane around that time. Some of the characters are complete works of fiction, some are amalgamations of multiple real people, and yet others are fictionalized versions of real people. I listened to an interview with the author who reiterated what he stated in his acknowledgements, that he didn’t want to do a disservice to any real people that lived through this time, but also did his best that the characters based on real people spoke lines in the book that are a matter of public record (from court cases or newspaper reporting). In the end, I think he did a nice job with the characterizations.
The places in the book are real, making Spokane a character of the book. As someone who lives here, this was both really cool and a little distracting from the story. I assume I was hyper-focused on places and street names, something I wouldn’t be as focused on reading a book set in, say, San Francisco or Boston. At the same time, the vivid descriptions of the locations made it really easy to visualize the setting as I read.
By the end of the book, I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be pro-union or anti-union. The author did a really nice job of showing both perspectives. The employers wanted workers and were willing to pay [what they considered] a fair wage. The workers had their own idea of what was fair and wanted to stand up for their rights. A lot of shenanigans went down and people went to prison and/or died as a result. I suppose the main lesson is academic – this was a work of historical fiction intending to get the reader to think about their perspectives on divisive issues. And I think this story accomplished that.
Overall, I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. It was a well-written and engaging story that I might not have picked up if it didn’t take place in my hometown.
