by Mickey Getty

“The mine steals everyone I love. It’s taking me too, piece by piece.”
— Bridie O’Doyle, 1887

Bridie O’Doyle lives a harsh life. The young daughter of a poor coal miner, she lives in a Pennsylvania mine patch town. When her father dies in the mine, she is left orphaned in the care of her relatives, struggling at the mercy of the cruel mine bosses and indebted to the company store. She swears vengeance upon Frank Gowen, the railroad and coal mine kingpin.

Soot weaves history and fiction into a powerful coming-of-age story. Bridie’s struggle mirrors that faced by real-life women in nineteenth-century coal towns, and her search for revenge delves into a long-standing historical mystery — the violent death of Franklin Gowen.

About the Author

Mickey Getty is an award-winning author, writing coach, speaker, and fine art photographer. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the fiction award from The Pennsylvania Writers Conference for “The Birth of William,” an excerpt from her novel The Junk Lottery. She graduated from Florida Atlantic University where she studied writing and health administration. She resides in southeastern Pennsylvania. Mickey’s awards include:

Florida Atlantic University World AIDS Day Literary Expressions Competition, 1999
Thomas Burnett Swann Memorial Scholarship, 2001
The Boca Raton Branch of the National League Of American Pen Women Letters Award, 2001
Pennsylvania Writer’s Conference Fiction Award, 2004

Reviews

  • “Soot offers up history, romance, madness, murder, and a possible solution to a real-life mystery … all done in a delicious style that grips you without trying to impress you. In short, it has everything you could hope for in a rousing good read.” –Becky Masterman, Edgar Award Finalist Author of Rage Against the Dying
  • “Soot sees life in the anthracite coal fields of Eastern Pennsylvania in a post Molly Maguire world through the eyes of Bridie O’Doyle … In oppressive circumstances she finds love and loses it, gives generously of her herbal knowledge, and encounters her most hated enemy who needs healing. Does she avenge the wrongs of her past life or move closer to the light? … Does she let past wrongs overcome her healing touch?” –Francis Mulligan, author of Spanish Market: The Twice Told Tale of Pepe Ramos
  • “Every now and then, I have the pleasure of reading a first-class piece of fiction. That is certainly the case here. Mickey’s narrative is unrelenting in its portrayal of the harshness of family life in the Pennsylvania hard-coal fields at the end of the nineteenth century… This is a worthy addition to the literature of the period.” –Clemson P., Amazon reader review
  • “It is a captivating read, one you find hard to put down and one the memory of which remains with you long after you have read each chapter.” –Jim R., Amazon reader review
  • “Indeed, Mickey Getty has written a captivating historical fiction book like none other of this coal mine era… A must read!” –Dori H., Amazon reader review

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