Product Description

The strike of 1984/5 cut deep into the traditional mining communities yet in the midst of this wholesale destruction something unexpected happened. From the dark corners of obscurity came the voices of the wives, mothers and daughters of miners - previously unheard, inexperienced, unrehearsed. Out of desperation they found the strength and courage to not only stand and fight alongside their men but to become political activists in their own right. Overnight they mastered the media, learnt which journalists to trust and began to appear in the newspapers, and on radio and TV. But when the strike ended in defeat the media lost interest. The women were dumped, allowed to slip back into the shadows. For some the strike brought about a change; they had seen an existence beyond the slagheaps and embraced it. For others the end of the strike meant coming back to earth with a bump. Two decades later Triona Holden, who was one of the BBC correspondents reporting on the strike, takes the reader into the lives of these remarkable women and reveals that what is good and inextinguishable about the mining communities lives on in these women's articulate, funny and frank stories.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #336377 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

About the Author
Triona Holden is a writer and broadcaster, working for the BBC as a correspondent and presenter. Her books include Sticky Blood, about the newly-discovered Hughes' Syndrome, and Talking about Lupus.

Customer Reviews

Powerful, evocative and inspiring
This is a wonderful book, accessible and engaging, describing the miner's strike of 1984/5 through the stories of the Women Against Pit Closures activists. Triona Holden selected her participants carefully to highlight those women whose lives were inextricably bound with the mining communities they fought to protect, in contrast to those who were "just visiting" and the author's personal experience as a journalist in the area, as well as the sister of a miner's wife adds great depth and authenticity to the writing. I read this book in a matter of days and found it both moving and inspiring; a testament to the human spirit and strength even in the darkest days. A must for all women (and everybody else!)