When we last left Morris Morgan, he was high-tailing it out of the town of Marias Coulee to parts unknown. In Work Song, he reappears, ten years later, in the copper mining capital of the world, Butte, Montana.
It is 1919, and Morris (who now goes by the name “Morrie”) arrives in town with no luggage, no job and no place to stay. He finds lodging in a boarding house run by a widow whose husband was killed in the copper mines. Morrie soon discovers that the whole town is run by the despised Anaconda Mining Company. Through a former student who is engaged to the local union leader, Morrie becomes involved in the labor disputes of the town.
A colorful cast of characters includes two retired Welsh miners who live in the boarding house, an old rancher who now runs the town library, and a lightning-fast young boy who is so skinny that his nickname is “Russian Famine”.
Although both Whistling Season and Work Song showcase the character of Morrie Morgan, it’s not necessary to read the first in order to enjoy the second.
“Can’t cook but doesn’t bite”.
Andras Levi, a young Jewish man from Budapest, receives a scholarship to study architecture in Paris. While a student in the City of Light, he falls in love with Klara, also a refugee from Budapest.
Major Ernest Pettigrew is retired and lives a quiet life in a small village in the English countryside. He values all things British - tea time, great literature, and, above all, proper decorum. His son, Roger, flies into town from London every once in a while - just long enough to upset the quiet life-style the Major has come to enjoy but not long enough to form a bond with his father.