BOOK DISCUSSION: Great Lakes/Great Books

Now in its 11th season, Great Lakes/Great Books meets the first Thursday of the month September – May to discuss books that have the Great Lakes as setting or subject matter or that are related to water and/or the Great Lakes region. All are welcome, whether you have read the book or not! The selection for this month is Not Yet Lost by Janis Falk.

About the book:

In this gritty, cinematic story, hardworking Florence and her best friend, Basia, are enraged with poor treatment, low wages, and working conditions in the factory in which they hand roll cigars. Florence is as reserved and compliant as Basia is fiery and forthright. In a classic underdog story, in a time when choices were between bad and worse, a woman searches for her voice to lead the labor movement against her husband’s violent efforts to silence her. The novel portrays the Eastern European immigrant struggle in turbulent 1937 Detroit when difficult economic times, xenophobia, “Fordism,” secret societies, and Communist-led labor organizations buffeted the demographic.