The Coal Tattoo: A Novel

Being from Kentucky, most of my role models have roots in my home state. Silas House is the ultimate role model. "The Coal Tattoo", is another remarkable book from my favorite author. Like his other works, "The Coal Tattoo" contains lively characters. It is so real that you are snapped back in time within a spilt second. You began to be a bystander in, "The Coal Tattoo." For the scenes are so real that you are walking the walk of the characters. A stunning book by a seasoned author. Want to take a day trip back in time? Buy this book. Sit down; buckle up; and read on.

Silas House is one of the greatest and most gifted authors of our time!! If I could give this book MORE THAN 5 STARS, I would!! His magic with words and the thoughts and dialogue of the people who live in his stories is absolutely amazing. This is a beautiful tale of the deep love of two sisters who have endured much together as they enter their adult lives, making decisions and choices that may forver alter their relationship with each other. Their lives have been defined by the coal mining that is the lifeblood of their mountain home, a part of their past and their present but how will it change their future? As troubled times strike the sisters, Silas House brings us into their hearts and minds, giving depth and soul to each of them. He makes you care deeply about what is happening to them in their lives. Two sisters, so very different and yet so closely bonded......when they are rocked to their core by life's events, can they save each other from despair and bring hope back or will they have to learn to lead separate lives. This tale would be the second story in a trilogy, coming after Parchment of Leaves and before Clay's Quilt. Silas House is such an exquisite and powerful author that each novel can easily stand on it's own merits.

THE COAL TATTOO by Silas House October 15,2004 THE COAL TATTOO by Silas House was my second book by this author, and third in his "trilogy" of books that take place in the mountains of Kentucky. The novel features characters that appear in his previous two books, A PARCHMENT OF LEAVES and his first, CLAY'S QUILT. All three are wonderful books that center on life in the Kentucky mountains, families that built their lives around the coalmines in the early to mid-twentieth century. In THE COAL TATTOO, the two main characters are sisters Anneth and Easter, who are as different as night and day. Anneth is wild and unleashed, while Easter is a born-again Christian. Their story is a tale of two sisters who love each other, but find that their differences tear them apart. What I love about these books is the depth that Silas House goes to describe his characters. One feels that these characters are part of one's own family, or maybe a reader may want to meet these characters, because House creates characters that are truly real and three-dimensional. I felt at home with his characters from A PARCHMENT OF LEAVES, and I feel the same with THE COAL TATTOO. He also does a good job at describing the lives of these people, and it feels like I am with them, in the bar dancing up a storm, or in church singing with the choir. These three books are what I call period pieces, and reflect a time long gone. History and technology has changed what this fictional place may have been like half a century ago, but they remain unchanged in these books by Silas House. I highly recommend reading all his books. These are not easy reads, but one will feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction after experiencing these books. THE COAL TATTOO is no exception, and the Ratmammy rates it five stars.

This is Silas House's best book yet. The language is so beautiful if often reads like poetry yet House always manages to keep the plot going just enough that it feels like a literary pageturner. I was completely obsessed with these characters while reading the book and struggled constantly with wanting to get to the end to see how everything turned out but--at the same time--not wanting the book to end. Anneth and Easter are two of the most vivid and memorable characters I have ever encountered in literature. If this book doesn't win some major national awards then I will be highly disappointed. It's time everyone knows who House is. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

In Coal Tattoo, Silas House fills in the story of the families he gave us in Parchment of Leaves and Clay's Quilt. House's descriptions of nature are poetic. He nails the speech patterns of Eastern Kentuckians without being cruel or condescending. He describes authentic faith in God respectfully; he does not stoop to easy generalizations or caricatures. As a native of Eastern Kentucky, realistic portrayals of its people and land are important to me, and House does not disappoint. Although set firmly in Eastern Kentucky, the stories are universal. Coal Tattoo is a family story, a sister story, a land story, and a Kentucky story. If you're new to his work, I would suggest starting with Parchment, then Coal Tattoo and then Clay's Quilt.