Book Beginnings: Jubilee's Journey by Bette Lee Crosby

Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.

On an icy cold November morning in 1956, Bartholomew Jones died in the Poynter Coal Mine. His death came as no surprise to anyone. He was only one of the countless men forever lost to the mine. They were men loved and mourned by their families, but to the world they were faceless, nameless people, not worthy of mention in the Charleston Times.

Morning after morning those men descended into the belly of the mountain, into a world of black dust that clung to their skin with a fierceness that no amount of scrubbing could wash away. In the winter the sky was still black when they climbed into the trolley cart that carried them into the mountain. And when they returned twelve hours later, daylight had already come and gone.

Jubilee's Journey by Bette Lee Crosby

Paul, 16 and Jubilee, 7 are orphans. After their father's death, they travel to find a relative in  Wyattsville. Paul gets shot in the midst of robbery in a shop, where he had gone to ask for a job. Jubilee waits for him on a bench where Paul had told her to wait. Ethan Allen, 13 sees her there and with much coaxing takes her to his grandmother Olivia's place. Olivia takes to the girl immediately and vows to herself to help the girl.

Meanwhile, Paul has been taken to the hospital in a comatose state and he is suspected to be one of the robbers. No one knows the two children in Wyattsville and hence no one reports them missing. Jubilee knows that her brother did no wrong. Olivia is determined that no harm should come to the girl. Ethan Allen is very caring about Jubilee. 

This story touches us at many levels. Love between siblings. Paul has always taken care of Jubilee and when her turn comes, she does the same for him. Ethan Allen, a orphan himself, takes to the little girl easily enough. Olivia, although thinks Ethan a handful, does not mind looking after Jubilee. In a strange place, there are people who still care about kids who are not theirs. 

There are beautiful use of metaphors and the human element is so palpable. It also contains an evil person who thinks nothing of killing people. One of the best novels, I read in 2014.