Deep River by Karl Marlantes

​Do you want a remarkable family saga you can settle in with for some time? Deep River written by Karl Marlantes and its 724 pages will keep you captivated from the beginning to the end. 
The story begins in early 1900's in Finland under Russia occupation. Members of the Koski family, brothers- Ilmari and Matti and  their sister, Aino are forced to leave Finland. They head to the United States and settle in southern Washington state near the Columbia River.  The brothers work in the logging industry and Aino takes on the challenge of organizing the workers to fight against the poor and dangerous conditions in the industry. Aino  emerges as a strong female character based on the Finnish mythical "Kalevala" and on Marlantes' grandmother and aunts. "My grandmother didn’t actually get thrown in jail [in “Deep River” Aino is imprisoned by Finland’s Russian occupiers, then tortured and raped, then jailed again in America], but she was a communist. The Daily Worker was on the kitchen table. Most Finns brought socialism over from Finland — they came from an oppressed country."
Read more about the novel in the review from the Seattle Times, Deep River is an Epic Tale of the Wobblies and the Will to Survive. 

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