First published 2025
Jake Morrison descends into the Blackrock Mine for what may be his final shift. The company has announced the pit will close within months, ending three generations of Morrison family mining in this Appalachian town. Jake watches younger miners pack up and leave for jobs in distant cities while older workers like himself have nowhere else to go. The mine that built his community now threatens to destroy it. As Jake navigates the tunnels he knows better than his own home, he must decide whether to fight for a dying way of life or accept that some things cannot be saved. The story explores what happens when the work that defines a man and his neighbors disappears forever.
Genres: fiction, american-fiction, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-legacy, small-town
Setting: Appalachia, Blackrock Mine
Period: 21st-century
263 pages · Paperback · University of Utah Press