Official Review: Granite Stories by Vance Bennett

[Brenda Creech]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Granite Stories" by Vance Bennett.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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"Most of this working man's ditty contains a lot of fiction, but it's not a total fabrication in any sense of the word" is how author Vance Bennett describes his book Granite Stories. The year is 1977. Granite, Oregon, was a real town, and the characters were real people. The city was once filled with the hustle and bustle of the 1860s gold rush, but in the late 1970s to early 1980s, the same city was virtually a ghost town with about twenty people and a marshall.

In the 1860s, Granite, Oregon, was a thriving gold mining town. People came from all over the world to search for gold. When the gold rush was over, the city emptied to a population of four people. In 1977 a few young people in their late twenties to early thirties came to Granite looking for work. One of those young people was Katy Gunn. Katy arrived in Granite, Oregon, in the pouring snow, out of gas and out of money. She was hoping to get a job at the Cougar, unaware it was an old gold mine. The town appeared deserted when Katy arrived. The unoccupied buildings in disrepair, abandoned vehicles sitting idle and rusting away. The surface gold had been gone since the gold rush of the 1860s. All that was left was gold in deep underground mines. Desperate for money, Katy signed on to work in the mine as the only woman on the crew. The miners lived together in a boarding house and worked together in winter cold and snow and summer heat. In addition to the new miners, there were a few locals. The mining crew settled into a Granite City routine. The only recreational opportunity was at the Granite Store unless they headed down the hill to Baker City—which they sometimes did on payday.

The author has woven a story of past versus present and has revealed a disparate group of characters. Most of the characters are real people, and some of the names are real. There are a few locals such as Smoky and Angelina, Thor, and the marshall of Grant county, Marshall Bud Morrow, who faithfully made rounds every day to check on everyone living in Granite. He was also the mayor of Granite. Each of the characters has their own story to tell.

As the story progresses, there are excerpts from Granite City's past citizens' interviews—to reveal how life was different from the late 19th century into the 20th century. Many of the accounts came from the "Federal Writers' Project" by a man named William C. Haight. There are occasional song lyrics from the 1970s and 1980s and the occasional poem that perfectly fits the narrative. The reader will delight in the mining crew's antics, hear their individual stories, and have mixed emotions at how the story ends.

My favorite part was reading the song lyrics from the 1970s to 1980s. Many of the songs brought back my own memories from that era. Songs like "Angel of the Morning" (Chip Taylor, 1968) and "Green Green Grass of Home" (Curly Putman, 1965). What I disliked most was the profanity, although it is not overdone. There are no provocative or erotic sexual scenes. However, I did find numerous errors, mostly missing words in sentences and occasional punctuation mistakes. The book could benefit from professional editing.

Due to the diverse characters, individual stories, and excerpts from the past, I found this book an excellent read. However, I have to omit a star from my rating due to the numerous errors. I am rating Granite Stories by Vance Bennett 3 out of 4 stars. I would recommend this book to adults eighteen and older who are not offended by profanity. "Baby boomers" would enjoy this one.

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Granite Stories
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[RHD]

Granite town seems to have quite the history. Mining towns boom, only to diminish after the mining is done. Great review, B Creech!

[Brenda Creech]

Granite town seems to have quite the history. Mining towns boom, only to diminish after the mining is done. Great review, B Creech!

Thank you! Yes, Granite was quite the busy place during the gold rush of the 1860s, but not so much in the late 70s to early 80s. It was an interesting book, though! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

[Raluca_Mihaila]

Your review took me straight to the mining town, and I felt for all the people struggling to provide for their families. Thank you for this inspiring review!

[Brenda Creech]

Your review took me straight to the mining town, and I felt for all the people struggling to provide for their families. Thank you for this inspiring review!

Thanks for the kind words, and for stopping by and commenting!

[Judith Lloy]

Thanks for your thorough review, I always appreciate when fellow reviewers clearly state if profanity would make readers uncomfortable. It helps enormously to help me keep my TBR pile as streamlined as possible.