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Book Review of Lament for the Molly Maguires

Lament for the Molly Maguires


A somewhat historical account of the rise and fall of the Irish group called The Molly Maguires. The Molly Maguires took law into their own hands, trying to find justice for miners and their family who were poorly treated. This book tells of the Molly Maguires group and The Pinkerton Spy that brought them down.

I knew the basics about the Molly Maguires. I also knew of rumors that my family helped The Pinkerton Spy hide. My great grandparents and grandparents on my father's side grew up in the Pottstown area called St. Clair. I think while reading it I was a little hopeful that I would see a familiar last name connected to me but... I did not. The book did mention many names, so many that I got confused at who was who.

Most of book was... pretty boring. I kept comparing it to the beginning of the bible. Just listing this person did this and this other person did that. I feel like the most emotional moment was at the end of the book where some Molly Maguires were hung.

I had hoped for more from this book but I think most of it went over my head or my eyes gazed over no matter how many times I read the same spot. I think that the reason I did not like a lot of the book is because of the author's "voice". For a book with so much death and violence, it seemed very slow and boring.