After his hitch in the Korean War, Harry Burger returns to his parental working class home on the West Side of Steelton, PA. He is determined to make a better life for himself, and to escape his gritty neighborhood that is in the constant shadow of the powerful Bethlehem Steel mill. He tries to do all the right things...dates the right girl, joins the right church, works hard to achieve his goal. Forces challenge him every step of the way. Meanwhile, his kid brother, Tim,who lives in the same home, enjoys success, with a new car, lots of spending money, and popularity with the ladies. Harry is suspicious of his brother's late hours, and when Tim is nabbed in an after hours drinking club, it's the Steelton Police Chief who seemingly comes to Tim's rescue.
STEELTON A NOVEL follow a cadre of men through nine months in 1955-56. The story has a powerful sense of place, the tough neighborhood of steelworkers and citizens who forge relationships inside and outside of the law. Favors are earned and returned. A liquor and steel theft ring is central to the story, with its members of different races, religions, education and motives. The small group faces its own threats from a competing organized crime family and the power of the dominant employer-the steel mill. Another key character is Mark "Scrappy" Stone, a young, educated West-Sider and Bethlehem manager who adroitly unifies labor and management while leading a key efficiency and expansion project for the steel mill. He faces a stern test of loyalty as he learns that his professional success comes at a price.
This book is about what men will do to get - or to keep - what they want or what they have. The decisions they make determine their fate in life-or do they? Is doing the right thing rewarded? How is success defined? Can we control our lives by what we think and do, or are there forces that determine our futures? In Steelton, it depends.
Steelton A Novel is told chronologically over a nine month period in 1955-56. Readers will be immersed in the mid century working class town and will experience the motives and struggles of the characters. You will feel as if you were transported to the bars, the fiery open hearth of the steel mill, the cold abandoned warehouse of the theft ring, and the warm kitchens of the West Side of Steelton.
This story is told in the language of the period and place.
STEELTON A NOVEL follow a cadre of men through nine months in 1955-56. The story has a powerful sense of place, the tough neighborhood of steelworkers and citizens who forge relationships inside and outside of the law. Favors are earned and returned. A liquor and steel theft ring is central to the story, with its members of different races, religions, education and motives. The small group faces its own threats from a competing organized crime family and the power of the dominant employer-the steel mill. Another key character is Mark "Scrappy" Stone, a young, educated West-Sider and Bethlehem manager who adroitly unifies labor and management while leading a key efficiency and expansion project for the steel mill. He faces a stern test of loyalty as he learns that his professional success comes at a price.
This book is about what men will do to get - or to keep - what they want or what they have. The decisions they make determine their fate in life-or do they? Is doing the right thing rewarded? How is success defined? Can we control our lives by what we think and do, or are there forces that determine our futures? In Steelton, it depends.
Steelton A Novel is told chronologically over a nine month period in 1955-56. Readers will be immersed in the mid century working class town and will experience the motives and struggles of the characters. You will feel as if you were transported to the bars, the fiery open hearth of the steel mill, the cold abandoned warehouse of the theft ring, and the warm kitchens of the West Side of Steelton.
This story is told in the language of the period and place.
