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The Coal Tattoo

4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 · rating details · 807 ratings · 75 reviews

Life isn’t easy for twenty-two year old Easter and her teenage sister Anneth, who were left parentless as young children. While Easter, a devout Pentecostal, finds solace in the powerful music of her church, Anneth seeks comfort in the rougher edges of life found in dancing, drinking, and fast living. Easter believes in tradition and is intent on rearing her wild young sis...more

Paperback, 368 pages

Published August 30th 2005 by Ballantine Books (first published 2004)

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Jan 23, 2013 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, hicklit, lit

Easter and Anneth are sisters who are different from one another. Easter is a very proper and God fearing young lady. Anneth is the opposite, she loves to go out drinking and dancing and generally getting into trouble. Easter being the older of the two tries her best to keep Anneth under control, but it ain't easy.

The two lose their parents as young children and are raised by their grandparents. But the two end up alone while still very young after losing their last surviving grandmother. Yet th...more

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Jan 04, 2010 Rebekah rated it 5 of 5 stars

I will admit I didn't know I was in the middle till i was done, and to make it worse it was the last book written, and apparently the Author didn't know they would work together till this story came about, but now I will read with more than I wanted when I get to the other stories. What is it about me and connect the dots books.
The Coal Tattoo by Silas House was a lovely story. it was a drama with evil corporate being defeated by the little guy (or gals). It was strong women facing life head on...more

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May 31, 2012 Megan Adams rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: appalachia

A beautiful story of the bonds that bind us to family and the land we grow up on. Silas House's writing possesses a quality that makes it lyrical and raw, and the story is realistic - My favorite passages are included below:

"She didn't feel an empty place inside herself because she had barely ventured out of these hills. She, did, however, feel funny because she not share these desires that the rest of the world seemed to have. She had never studied movie magazines and wished to be an actress, h...more A beautiful story of the bonds that bind us to family and the land we grow up on. Silas House's writing possesses a quality that makes it lyrical and raw, and the story is realistic - My favorite passages are included below:

"She didn't feel an empty place inside herself because she had barely ventured out of these hills. She, did, however, feel funny because she not share these desires that the rest of the world seemed to have. She had never studied movie magazines and wished to be an actress, had never envied people on television. The rest of the world was what was messed up, coveting everything they laid their eyes upon" (192).

"She thought about the people who drove through Crow County or flew by on the new highway without ever realizing there was a whole town beyond the mountains on either side of them. If they saw this place, if they drove through Free Creek and saw her house with her and El sitting on the porch while she broke beans and he drank his beer, she knew what they would think. They would consider these people on the porch and wonder how they stood living such little lives, stuck in a small town where nothing ever happened. A place where stores closed up at dusk and nobody famous ever came to speak or sing at a concert hall. A place where nobody important in their eyes had ever been born or lived. They would feel sorry for the people on the porch and the smallness of their existences and be thankful that they themselves live in a place where there were fancy restaurants and tall buildings and jobs that you had to get dressed up for. But her life did not feel little at all to her. All she had ever wanted was the peace of a live well lived, a good man, and the knowledge that her family was safe. Those were big things" (192).

"Now, sitting here on the beach she had always wanted to see, she watched the waves roll in and felt nothing but an overwhelming sorrow. Everything made her sad, this vast ocean with its power and glory, the water going on and on until you couldn't even tell where the ocean ended and the sky began. The flight of gulls above her, the relentless wind and the white sand and seashells. She didn't think she could stand living in a world where everyone didn't pay attention to these things. Maybe that was the reason for her grief" (211).(less)

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Jul 21, 2010 Rhonda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, sociology

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book is remarkably beautiful, written in a clear and sonorous prose which mimics the voices of eastern Kentucky without making them either a caricature or gimmick. In and of itself, this is reason alone for reading this book. Although I didn't care much for the subject matter, the lives of two sisters growing up in the coal country of eastern Kentucky, House weaves an exquisite and deeply passionate tale. The most amazing part of this is that he writes about women so well, something which m...more This book is remarkably beautiful, written in a clear and sonorous prose which mimics the voices of eastern Kentucky without making them either a caricature or gimmick. In and of itself, this is reason alone for reading this book. Although I didn't care much for the subject matter, the lives of two sisters growing up in the coal country of eastern Kentucky, House weaves an exquisite and deeply passionate tale. The most amazing part of this is that he writes about women so well, something which made me squirm more than a few times during the course of this wonderful prose.
It is altogether rare to find one so versed in how women act and exactly what they say that I began looking for faults... and of course I found some easily enough. Still it impressed me more than ever that this man was capable of listening so closely to what women said and what they did. He really doesn't understand some of the core issues (and I can only believe that would make any man crazy) but this is an author, for example, who can relate the special smell of a newborn baby! I could tell every male I know how important this is to a woman, from now until the day I die and I still don't think he would even remember it. Like most of women's secrets which men don't comprehend, this one was and is always in full view. There is something about things like this which just don’t compute, to use the vernacular, in the male psyche. When House writes of the definition of love as having someone who will listen to you when you are speaking, he knows his subject matter: he listened closely to more than a few women in order to write like this…and it is indeed an impressive feat!
With that being said, there has always been something about the coal mining business which I have never understood. No, it's nothing to do with why men would go miles underground and dig rock out so we can burn it: I never understood that and I never will, much the same as not understanding how anyone who lit a cigarette on fire ever believed it was good for him or her. What I don't understand (an underlying theme in this book) is about how coal companies bought mineral rights to thousands of acres of mountain land and then the owners of this land become upset that the same company can come along years later and claim those rights! Believe me, I understand the ugliness of strip mining and never believed it ought to have been allowed, but if you sell someone the rights to your land, sooner or later you had better be ready to give up those rights, regardless of whether they are taken the way you think they should or not..
Now I have seen pictures of strip mining, how many a mountain top has been completely erased from the landscape and it has made me shudder to be near it, much as if I were standing next to any very great sin against nature. I have seen where the remnants have been made into a kind of Wildlife Park, reclothing the mutated ugliness, but it still makes me shudder. Strip mining just makes the heart sad, no matter what they did afterwards to make it pretty.
I even understand why some families sold the mineral rights to the land on which nothing much would grow to support families. Though this story is about a family member who sells the rights illicitly, the real question is why someone can sell those rights and then complain about having lost them. It is much like a girl out parking with a guy wrestling for her virginity: you have to be a fool to believe any of the promises you hear in moments when you aren't thinking clearly… and you deal with the ramifications from your stupidity.
There is a heartfelt treatment of spiritualism in this book, and honest look at things like belonging to the land and God and belonging to one another in a family. Books deal with this subject all the time without making it sound very honest, but this one doesn’t pull any punches. Still without suggesting that everyone go back and work off the land, this book asks where people went wrong when they became a little greedy with themselves…and it suggests an authentic struggle in life, much more than any of us wish to endure, is what it really makes us authentically human.
(less)

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Oct 18, 2007 Nomi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adultfiction

I can't believe I only just found out about Silas House. This story about sisters Edith and Anneth living in Kentucky coal mining territory during the 1960s was amazing. In fact, I wish this book was about 200 pages longer because I became so attached to the characters. House has great insight into female psychology. Also, he obviously has a deep love for the land and people of Eastern Kentucky which comes through in his beautiful writing. I'm now going to read all his other books.

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Mar 06, 2010 Stacy rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Coal Tattoo by Silas House was just so well written that I could not help but get drawn into the pages, walk up the moutain, and lie down in the fields with sisters Easter and Anneth.

Easter is the older sister, who fears that she will never settle Anneth down, or at least she fears she'll die trying. (These two characters are drawn from House's previous books, Clay's Quilt and A Parchment of Leaves; which I have not read).

The Coal Tattoo starts from the present and takes you back through t...more

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Nov 23, 2009 Jennifer S rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked this audio book up recently at the library to listen to on a trip. The hardcover edition has been sitting on my bookshelf, in queue to read, along with two other novels by House since I saw him speak when I was in college.

The imagery in this novel is really beautiful. Growing up in the general area where the novel takes place and having visited many places in the East TN mountains (which are very much like the Kentucky mountains where the novel is set) I can say that House beautifully d...more

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Aug 05, 2009 Marvin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: religion

This is the third book I've read recently (with My Sister's Keeper & Fall on Your Knees) about sisters--a "good" sister & a "bad" (but good-hearted) one. This one is less plot-driven than the other two, focused more on the sisters' relationship and, even more, on their relationship to their land & heritage in the hills of Kentucky where coal mining dominates. Both aspects are well treated; the "good" sister's on-again, off-again Pentecostal faith seems less fairly treated. When she f...more This is the third book I've read recently (with My Sister's Keeper & Fall on Your Knees) about sisters--a "good" sister & a "bad" (but good-hearted) one. This one is less plot-driven than the other two, focused more on the sisters' relationship and, even more, on their relationship to their land & heritage in the hills of Kentucky where coal mining dominates. Both aspects are well treated; the "good" sister's on-again, off-again Pentecostal faith seems less fairly treated. When she feels guilty about joining her husband on a Sunday morning fishing trip, and he apparently convinces her with the following biblical exegesis: I know that Bible pretty good, Easter [yes, that's really her name:], and it seems to me that Jesus spent as much time fishing as he did preaching." (88) Later, Easter reflects, "People who drove through Crow County or flew by on the new highway without even realizing there was a whole town beyond the mountains in either side of them . . . would [if they did see them:] consider these people on the porch and wonder how they stood living such little lives, stuck in a small town where nothing ever happened. . . . They would feel sorry for the people on the porch and the smallness of their existence and be thankful that they themselves lived in places where there were fancy restaurants and tall buildings and jobs that you had to get dressed up for. But her life did not feel little at all to her. All she had ever wanted was the peace of a life well lived, a good man, and the knowledge that her family was safe. Those were big things. In her mind, those people were the ones who led boring lives always watching the parade go by, wishing that they could be something they were not. So full of dreams, Easter thought, dreams that would never, ever come true." On love of place, the other sister thinks, "She couldn't believe she had married a man who was going to tear up the land she had loved all her life, a man too stupid to see that she loved that land more than him."(less)

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Jan 07, 2012 Susan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads, kentucky, southern

This was another great book by the amazingly talented Silas House. It is the story of two sisters who lived in eastern Kentucky; one was as wild as could be while the other was very sensible and church-going. The story is about the people and culture of the eastern mountains. The bond of sisterhood and love they shared helped them throughout the trials of their lives. I was excited to find characters in this book from two of House's other books, A Parchment of Leaves and Clay's Quilt. I don't th...more

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Jun 05, 2010 Peacegal rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-discussion-group

More overwrought Southern Appalachian chick lit from my book discussion group. I plowed through this one in a few days because I didn't want to read it, but as the book group leader I'm compelled to.

While the writing style was evocative and creative, too often the characters and storyline simply left me rolling my eyes. Here we have yet another set of women who are searching for life and fulfillment, which always boils down to a good man and a bayybee. Oh, for Pete's sake.

I'm sure I'm not the o...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Kathleen S rated it 3 of 5 stars

In The Coal Tattoo we learn about the land that has meant so much to the Appalachian people for generations, and one specific family, and they have changed as mining techniques change.

The Sizemore family, in southeastern Kentucky, has been frequently touched by death. When Easter and Anneth lose their parents and later the grandmothers who raised them, they become closer. Easter worries about Anneth as she goes through her teen years and loves the bars with their wild music. Easter is a born aga...more

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May 20, 2012 Carol rated it 2 of 5 stars

Definitely not as strong as A Parchment of Leaves. I just could not get into this book. I couldn't stand the two main characters, Easter and Anneth. They lacked the strength and depth of Vine and Esme in the previous story. Both of them were just so flat and frustrating. I guess I'm a little biased because I can't stand reading books set in the 60's, but I thought I would still give this one a chance hoping it would be as good as A Parchment of Leaves. Definitely not though. By the end, I was in...more

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May 04, 2011 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: appalachian-literature

I love good Appalachian fiction and this book was no disappointment. I am always impressed when a male writer is able to nail a female's point of view. In this case, Silas House powerfully delivers that point of view twice as he tells the story of two sisters bound together through loss, their coming of age experiences and hardship. I found myself liking both sisters, although they were quite different from each other. I easily related to their struggles to understand themselves and to claim the...more

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Oct 31, 2011 Jane Brant rated it 4 of 5 stars

Enjoyed the musical references throughout this book, to the point where I realized the song "Coal Tattoo" has been infused throughout my whole life being with the Kingston Trio to Judy Collins and now to Red Molly. Believe it or not, the Internet searches allowed me to really explore the history, background, and history behind this novel. I have to admit that I did not like it as well as "A Parchment of Leaves", but still...it opened so many doors about the whole coal mining travesty in this cou...more

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Apr 19, 2010 Kathie Hagen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Young adults on up

This is the first of Silas House's books that I've read. I loved this story. My ancestors were "coal people" in Pennsylvania so I felt instinctual stirrings of kinship with the characters of this book. The characters are drawn realistically & I could empathize (in different ways) with all of them. The undercurrent of soul-deep love of the mountains, rivers, birds, & nature in general resonated strongly with me. Can't wait to read Parchment of Leaves by this author.

The reader of this book...more

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Jul 27, 2008 Ernie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well written. Story is about the relationship between two sisters in rural Eastern Kentucky. The people about them are two-dimensional but allows the author to make his points about the sisters. Poetic. The story deals with two sisters who inherit the world of their grandparents ... but which is quite different due to the pervasive influence of the coal industry. They are part of the past and the coal industry is invested in keeping that past. --- Easter, one of the sisters, has the gift of seei...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Courtney rated it 3 of 5 stars

Little too much "chick" for me. Traces relationship and relationships of older, stable sister, Easter, and younger, wilder sister Anneth. Ironic to me that Silas House says in interview at end of book that he likes to "end books on note of hope that characters in book will find their place in the world." This book ends with Anneth marrying for the 3rd time a man she does not love as she feels that is the only way she has a chance of keeping the father of her baby alive in Vietnam. A note of hope...more

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Apr 19, 2009 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 25, 2011 Jenee Rager rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-fiction

This book is beautifuly written and I saw a lot of potential in the story. What kept me from rating it higher was that the story line never quite lived up to its potential. The timeline was a bit confusing, as the actions of the characters had me believing that the story was set in the 1930's or 1940's and I later found out it was in the late 1960's. I also found the ending disappointing. So all in all, it was a good, but slightly disappointing read.

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Jan 23, 2009 Aubrie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book and got really caught up in the story and the writing style. I, like some other reviewers here, did not really connect to the characters. However, this did not detract from my enjoyment of the story. I do have to say that I got a bit confused about which character was which, and how they were all related. I do wish that the author had explained this a little more clearly in the beginning.

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Apr 19, 2013 Rivera Sun rated it 5 of 5 stars

A poignant, texturally rich, gritty with the feel of Appalachia, humid, real, and just plain great story. I was rooting for the characters from the first scene. "Anneth was dancing . . . and it was like seeing joy made into a human form that could travel across the dance floor." Excellent. Silas House plunges you into the world of wild-girl Easter and her straight-laced big sister Easter, twisting you along a narrative ride that never grows dull and leads to unlikely places. You'll be glad there...more

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Mar 24, 2011 Marci rated it 3 of 5 stars

Overall, I liked it. Silas House left too many things unanswered. He had several seeming plot devices that never went anywhere. I really liked the characters though and will probably read some of the other books in this series to see what happens to the characters just in case he meant for these unanswered questions to be answered in other novels.

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Feb 19, 2013 Missi rated it 5 of 5 stars

A must read for Kentuckians-- rich local color, poetic figurative language that captures the heart of a people bound by mountains and hard-scrabble life and their love of land. I first read this book several years ago, along with the others in the series--Clay's Quilt and Parchment of Leaves--- but loved rereading this one for my book club.

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Jan 12, 2009 Kasey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorite-books

This author is unbelievably talented. I read this book in 2 days, I just couldn't put it down. I really felt the character's happiness and heartaches. He has a style of writing that is poetic, yet crystal clear. If you order this book- and you should, you will also want to order "Clay's Quilt", as this is sort of a prequel to that.

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Aug 05, 2012 Waller rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-for-adults, teaching-taught

This is a sequel (to *Clay's Quilt*) that I read in part because I was intrigued by the title, but it made me want to go back and read the earlier book as well - whenever I get the time. (HA!) That seems a pretty good testimonial, since it is often hard to get into a sequel when you don't know the background.

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Mar 28, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction

This is a beautifully written and haunting story of two sisters that live in the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky. Many of the events in this book are heartbreaking, but ultimately show us the depths of familial love and loyalty and a similar love and loyalty that these people feel towards their land.

Beautiful and moving.

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May 05, 2009 Cathy rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 21, 2013 Sherri Moldaver rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was the first book I read by this author. Excellent. I never thought I would be interested in reading about people from the Appalachia Hills....but I was pleasantly surprised.

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Aug 05, 2011 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Good story of one family's efforts to grow up in impoverished Appalachia. Two sisters struggle to be the different, yet not so different, women they are. Worthwhile reading.

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Sep 12, 2010 Donna rated it 3 of 5 stars

very slice of life style. Reminded me of Nicolas Sparks type. Not my favorite but it was interesting to get a glimpse into an area and lifestyle so different than the south.

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About Silas House

Silas House is an American writer best known for his novels. He is also a music journalist, environmental activist, and columnist. He lives in Eastern Kentucky, where he was born and raised.

House's fiction is known for its attention to the natural world, working class characters, and the plight of the rural place and rural people. He is also a music journalist, environmental activist and columnist...more Silas House is an American writer best known for his novels. He is also a music journalist, environmental activist, and columnist. He lives in Eastern Kentucky, where he was born and raised.

House's fiction is known for its attention to the natural world, working class characters, and the plight of the rural place and rural people. He is also a music journalist, environmental activist and columnist. House has written features or press kits on such artists as Kris Kristofferson, LeAnn Womack, Lucinda Williams, Nickel Creek, Kelly Willis, Buddy Miller, Darrell Scott, Delbert McClinton, Tim O'Brien, Scott Miller, and many more.

In 2000, House was chosen, along with since-published authors Pamela Duncan, Jeanne Braselton and Jack Riggs, as one of the ten emerging talents in the south by the Millennial Gathering of Writers at Vanderbilt University. House served as a writer in residence at Eastern Kentucky University from 2004-2005 and at Lincoln Memorial University from 2005-2010. At LMU he also directed the Mountain Heritage Literary Festival. In 2010 House became the National Endowment for Humanities Chair in Appalachian Studies at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. He has served on the fiction faculty at Spalding University's MFA in Creative Writing since 2005. In 2010 House was selected as the focus of the Silas House Literary Festival at Emory and Henry College in Emory, Virginia. The same year he was chosen as Appalachian Writer of the Year by Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

Since 2005 House has been increasingly visible in the fight against mountaintop removal mining, an environmentally devastating form of coal mining that blasts the entire top off a mountain and fills the valley below with the debris. House wrote the original draft of the 2005 Kentucky authors' statement against the practice; since the draft more than three dozen authors have signed it. House has published many articles about mountaintop removal and has performed at various concerts as a member of Public Outcry, an acoustic band formed for the purpose of raising awareness of mountaintop removal mining. The other members of the group are authors George Ella Lyon and Anne Shelby, with musicians Jason Howard, Jessie Lynne Keltner and Kate Larken. Public Outcry tours college campuses to educate students about mountaintop removal. House and Howard also perform together as The Doolittles. (less)

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