Those That Mattered

Angle's first novel, about a young woman's coming of age in a small West Virginia coal-mining town, resonates with authentic detail and narrative passion, despite some flaws. The apparently autobiographical story follows one Portia Crowe through childhood, adolescence, marriage and motherhood in a harsh and joyless world. The menfolk of Cogan's Bluff, including Portia's grandfather, father and brother, spend their lives working in the mines. When Portia finds herself divorced and struggling in a town with limited opportunities, she becomes one of the first women to follow the men underground (as the author herself did, in 1975). Angle's observations about mining's crushing effect on bodies and spirits are trenchant and unforgettable; unfortunately, she fails to explore adequately the complex feelings about home and family that keep Portia in Cogan's Bluff, despite a college education that widens her opportunities. The book's greatest strength is a unique narrative voice that renders a vanishing way of life in perfect pitch. Yet, probably because of its autobiographical inspiration, the story is essentially formless, adding up to what's more an amalgam of episodes than a solid plot. Still, this serves as an interesting piece of social realism, a highly personal testament to survival in harsh circumstances . (Sept.)