Strange as this Weather Has Been

A West Virginia family struggles amid the booms and busts of the Appalachian coal industry in this powerful, sure-footed, and haunting novel with echoes of John Steinbeck (New York Times Book Review).

Set in present-day West Virginia, this debut novel tells the story of a coal mining family—a couple and their four children—living through the last mining boom and dealing with mountaintop liftoff and mining ruining what remains of their hometown. As mining turns the mountains to slag and sewage, workers struggle with layoffs, and children find adventure in the craters of the blasted lunar landscape.

Strange as This Weather Has Been follows several members of the family, with a particular focus on 15-year-old Bant and his mother, Dentelle. Working at a motel, Bant becomes involved with a young miner while his mother considers joining the fight against the mining companies. As domestic conflicts escalate at home, the children are increasingly forced outside among the garbage caused by flooding and felled trees in the hollows, the only nature they have ever known.

But Bant has other memories and is as curious and strong-willed as her mother, and eventually discovers the very real threat of destruction looming as much in the landscape as at home.