"God took Moses up on the mountaintop and Moses seen the Promised Land. Hit is there! And ifn we dont cross this Jordan, we may still yet see it. And ifn we see it, maybe our younguns will cross over. Maybe them younguns standing there in that snow drift a-shivering will enter the Promised Land."
—Albion Freeman
Storming Heaven is a 1987 novel by Denise Giardina set during the central Appalachian coal labor strife of the early 1900s and leading up to the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921. Despite being a work of fiction, the novel takes inspiration from real life events such as the Matewan Massacre and the murder of Sid Hatfield. Four point of view characters narrate the story:
- C.J. Marcum: A radical West Virginia native who saw his land taken by the coal companies as a child and dreams of restoring it to the people.
- Carrie Bishop: A headstrong woman from eastern Kentucky who becomes a nurse in the coal camps.
- Rondal Lloyd: A stubborn, free-spirited man turned fugitive after witnessing the death of a miner by Baldwin-Felts guards.
- Rosa Angelelli: An immigrant from Italy who weds an Italian miner and works as a housekeeper for chief coal operator Lytton Davidson.
The novel is often included in Appalachian high school reading curriculums because of its historically accurate representation of a dark and often overlooked time in American history. Compare it to the movie Matewan.
Tropes present:
- The Alcoholic: What Rondal's dad becomes after an extended period of time in the mines.
- Anyone Can Die: By the end of the book, C.J., Isom, Albion, and Rondal have all died unsatisfactory deaths.
- Boom, Headshot!: How several minor characters go, most notably C.J.'s grandfather.
- Character Narrator: Four in total, as listed above.
- Downer Ending: Anyone with historical knowledge of the time period knows that the miner's lost the Battle of Blair Mountain. What's more, even though Rondal survives, he becomes a bitter paraplegic and succumbs to his wounds not long after.
- Dumb Struck: After watching a child no older than him get crushed to death right in front of him, Rondal goes mute for three days until C.J. offers to take him back to the city.
- Like a Son to Me: Rondal is this for C.J.
- Parental Abandonment: Both of C.J.'s parents had passed before the story began. As a child, he grew up with his grandparents until the coal companies took their land.
- Second Love: Albion is this to Carrie, who fell in love with Rondal after he took her virginity.
