Holding the Line
1989

Based on hundreds of hours of interviews with strikers and their families, Holding the Line is an account of eighteen months — between June 1983 and December 1985 — during which a strike against the Phelps Dodge Copper Corporation permanently altered the social order in several southwestern mining towns. In particular, the book is about the women in these towns: how they answered the challenge set before them, and how they changed. The strike proved to be an important moment in U.S. labor history, but more than that, it was one of those rare events that forces a turning point in many lives at once.

“Like Kingsolver's fiction, Holding the Line is a beautifully written book grounded on the strength of its characters--only this time the characters are real.”
–Journal of the Southwest

“The women tell remarkable stories of their lives and actions.... This book pays powerful tribute to their resolve and passion for economic justice.”
–Publishers Weekly