DEAR AMERICA: Coal Miner's Bride

This is possibly the most problematic DA for me. It's not the controversial Ann Rinaldi book, because that one has the author clearly in the wrong. This one gives me the most mixed feelings.

I love the main character and her love interest. Their story throughout the book is great.

However, the love interest is not the same person as the guy she marries.

Anetka is 13 when she leaves Poland, after her father sold her hand in marriage to a fellow coal miner in exchange for 3 ship tickets.

Sold into marriage at THIRTEEN.

I mean, seriously, think about that. This book isn't set in the ancient world or Middle Ages or anything. This was 1896. And shit like this actually fucking happened. It disgusts me.

Because at 13, this poor girl lost her virginity to someone literally twice her age. He was a widower with 3 young daughters, who only wanted a body to take care of his kids and a slave to take care of his own physical needs. He's emotionally abusive to Anetka. He's an alcoholic. He berates her for not having everything the way he wants, even if she spent the day taking care of his three sick kids or helping her friend give birth. He attacks her for writing, saying what could possibly be in her head that's worth writing down. He's repeatedly abusing and arranged marriage raping a 13-year-old girl and this is a book for children. Thank the gods he died before she got knocked up!

And the extra sad thing is, Anetka just wants him to love her, like he clearly did his dead wife. He calls her by the dead wife's name a couple times. But no, he just continues to be a douche and dies before she hardens her heart against him, which I wish she'd done. I also wish she'd bitched out her father, who's another alcoholic idiot, but she never does. She yells at the two of them once, but that's not nearly enough to make up for what she's put through.

Thankfully though, douchebag husband is killed halfway through and then the book gets good again. Anetka is very enterprising for 13 and you root for her to succeed and for her and Leon to finally get together.

It's a good story that's briefly mired in a bunch of squicky things. It's hard to look past the horror this author chose to write about to find the good stuff, but it's worth the read as long as you can handle the yick.

I do think this author's on the fucked up side though. This is the same chick who wrote the overly dramatic book I ripped apart not long ago. Is she aware she's writing for children? Because I don't think she is.