FIRE IN THE HOLE The haunting award-winning story of a young widowed lawyer swept up in the violence of the famous southern Colorado coal strike known to history as the Ludlow Massacre. Downing chooses briefly married, recently widowed attorney Alex MacFarlane as the fictional figure through which to detail the anatomy of a strike and its aftermath. Alex travels from Denver to Trinidad, Colorado to defend a young miner who had tried to save her husband and now was charged with inciting a riot. Alex sees this as an opportunity to establish an independent identity as a partner in her father's law office. In Trinidad, she encounters law-school nemesis Bill Henderson, newly elected district attorney. Romance buds as Alex and Bill discover common concerns for human rights beneath their class differences, and together they fight the power of the federal government and industrial interests in an attempt to secure justice for the miners. As organizers for the United Mine Workers battle martial law and the Colorado State Militia, Downing introduces the plights of Greek, Italian and Slavic immigrants, particularly that of Maria Ferrara, who is pregnant by the married camp doctor. Despite failed hopes and the loss of lives, federal troops finally intervene at the insistence of President Wilson. Downing comfortably blends the personal lives of her characters with the historical figures who helped forge the final resolution.* A new feature: Behind the Scenes! BUY THE BOOK through Booksense (support an independent bookstore!) or Amazon. PRAISE "Alex MacFarlane is the sort of historic heroine women writers in the West have long wanted to portray."    —The Denver Post "Sybil Downing has ably captured the agony of the Ludlow Massacre."    —Rocky Mountain News "Poignant and touching....A gifted writer."    —El Paso Herald Post A fine portrayal of a courageous woman's attempts to help the innocent victims of the battle with fascinating and tragic history as background."    —Bloomsbury Review "Under Downing's skillful pen, the characters come alive, and the readers will gain a sympathy for the strikers, their families, and their union."    —Journal of the West "If ever a historical event cried out for dramatic treatment by an imaginative novelist, it would be the great Colorado Coalfield War early in this century. Sybil Downing's FIRE IN THE HOLE answers that cry with passion, courage and grace."    —George McGovern, former U.S. Senator, co-author of The Great Coalfield War * Description from Publishers Weekly