The Wailing Wind, A Tale of Love and Obsession [Paperback]

Joseph T. Renaldi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1999

THE WAILING WIND, A TALE OF LOVE AND OBSESSION,is an intriguing story of the strange relationship that exists between Henry Shane and Edith Miller and the challenges they face in their quest for love and security in the deteriorating community of Sinclair in the Coal Region of Pennsylvania.It is the life of Edith Miller, a wanton woman, who is obsessed with sex, and Henry Shane, an immoral man who endured the pain and agony of the Korean War and the ordeal of confinement at Pak's Palace, a prisoner of war camp near Pyongyang, North Korea.The strange love obsession between Henry Shane and Edith Miller begins during World War II and reaches a climax when Henry Shane returns to Sinclair from the Korean War as a crippled and highly decorated soldier.They are cognizant of their many immoral activities of the past. Yet, they agree to go from immorality to reconciliation and finally are united in marriage, but are not aware of the wailing wind that will continue to torment and plague them for the remaining days of their life. The emphasis is on the social and economic environment that once existed in a typical coal mining community during the pre and post Korean War era, as well as those men and woman of various ethnic groups it has touched and changed.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Joseph Renaldi has penned a great Coal Region adventure/romance yarn for those cold winter evenings soon upon us. This gothic ill - fated romance combines love and combat in equal measure against the backdrop of a declining small coal town in Pennsylvania at the time of the Korean conflict. The female lead, Edith Miller, is a very flawed heroine, her beauty is matched only by the laxness of her morals. The central character, Henry Shane, is a former high school football star and Korean veteran, decorated for bravery in combat. He parallels Edith in his capacity for infidelity to marital partners and others.Joseph Renaldi sketches in the Coal Region background settings and social interactions with an easy and accurate familiarity.This author well knows the people and places of whom he writes. The interest of the reader will increase steadily as the story unfolds. There are precious few really good Coal Region romance novels, this is one of them. -- The Anthracite History Journal, January 18, 2000 by Eric McKeever

About the Author

Joseph T. Renaldi was born and reared in the Western Coal Region of Pennsylvania. He witnessed many of the difficulties and hardships encountered by the people who resided in the Coal Region and also served in the armed forces during the Korean War. He is a graduate of Windber High school,Windber,Pennsylvania and Western Maryland College,Westminster,Maryland and served forty (40)years in the field of education. He is now retired and resides in Frackville, Pennsylvania where he is involved in art and woodcrafts and is working on a new book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Five Corners Publications (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886699178
• ISBN-13: 978-1886699175
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,306,580 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An worthwhile tale, November 30, 2007

By 

Pennman - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wailing Wind, A Tale of Love and Obsession (Paperback)

This is a love story that unfolds in the Pennsylvania coal region. As a love story, it is no trite romance, but a genuine tale that involves the complexities of real-life love. It also gives a good portrait of the setting that I really enjoyed as a former resident of the area. The writing quality, unfortunately, is very inconsistent. There are some passages so compelling in their depiction of a scene or the the workings of a character's mind that Faulkner would have been proud to write them. Other places are in need of heavy-duty editing. And the descriptions of women tended to be very similar, except for the hair coloring. Still, I recommend the book. It's a good story.