Synopsis: BAKER TOWERS is an intimate exploration of love and family set in a western Pennsylvania coal town in the years following World War II. Bakerton is a town of company houses and church festivals, union squabbles and firemen's parades. Its ball club leads the coal company leagues. Its neighborhoods are Little Italy, Swedetown and Polish Hill.
For the five Novak children, the forties are a decade of tragedy, excitement and stunning change. George comes home from the war determined to leave Bakerton behind and finds the task impossible. Dorothy is a fragile beauty hooked on romance. Brilliant Joyce holds the family together, bitterly aware of the life she might have had elsewhere, while her brother Sandy sails through life on looks and charm. At the center of it all is Lucy, the volatile baby, devouring the family's attention and developing a bottomless appetite for love.
Type: Fiction
Quick Take: Recommend - I enjoyed this novel but not as much as Haigh's first two which had an element of surprise to the storyline. This is a solid book and you might be surprised by some of the characters.
Following the Novak family over decades you will feel a connection to them and small town America - life is hard, the choices can be even more challenging. With young children living at home for most of the story and the grown children returning home throughout the book, we learn about the Novak family from many points of view.
It is so important to remember how hard people worked just to put dinner on the table, it's easy to forget how hard life was post wartime.
Source: Library (audio)