Title: Wildflowers and Train Whistles: Stories of a Coal Mining Family
Author: Lillian “Sissy Crone” Frazer
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 978-1-5462-2656-7
Pages: 128
Genre: Memoir, Non-Fiction
Reviewed By: Tiffany Ezuma
Pacific Book Review Star
Awarded to Books of Excellent Merit
Not all books are able to transport the reader to a different time and place but the ones that do are special; Wildflowers and Train Whistles: Stories of a Coal Mining Family does just that. Author Lillian “Sissy Crone” Frazer has a talent for capturing the essence of the small West Virginian coal town in which she grew up in. With this memoir, a collection of stories about her childhood growing up in Minden, West Virginia, the author recalls the simpler era of the 1950s.
The youngest of seven kids—Squeaky, Charles, Robert, John, Sue, and Anna before her—the reader gets an intimate portrayal of the author’s family life with her mother as the homemaker and her father, the breadwinner and a coal miner. She chronicles her time growing up on a coal camp during the end of the big boom era when work was drying out in the industry and a town’s livelihood was threatened.
Reading Frazer’s account of that time period was a mixture of emotion from the simple joys of a childhood spent playing games, to the hidden stress her parents must have been going through in order to make end’s meet. Frazer’s direct writing style is an asset since the matter-of-fact style allows readers to put themselves in her shoes and relate their own circumstances to the ones she describes. She has a gift for making the everyday compelling. The book is laced with photographs to give the reader an even clearer picture of the world being depicted. I particularly found the photographs to further engulf my thoughts, as I looked at every detail, after learning about the lifestyle of the era.
Wildflowers and Train Whistles: Stories of a Coal Mining Family is an engaging and poignant read. It will hit home for readers from blue collar working-class families, white collar executive types and no-collar millennials, as all readers will enjoy learning and experiencing this iconic facet of American life.
Follow Us