Torchlight

The book is based on an actual event in 1854 in Westfield, Massachusetts. The town was split between people considered to be Yankees (all of whom appeared to have been Protestant), and Irish (all of whom were Catholic.)

The book centers on two young characters. Charlotte is a Yankee and has a good friend, Maggie who happens to be Irish. The town is divided between the two groups, and there are also two other issues involved, one being abolition and the other temperance.

The public school has also been integrated between the two groups. To complicate matters even further, the Irish have gotten some land and plan to build a church on it. This is pretty much the final straw for the Yankees.

Some of the anti-Irish views include referring to them as 'drunken Irish' and 'No Irish Need Apply' signs in businesses. Another approach is that the Irish 'should keep to themselves.' They are viewed as drinking heavily and that upsets the Yankee temperance group. They are even referred to as 'devil worshipers.'

The problems erupt in the schoolyard as Yankee and Irish students fight more and more. One of the teachers actually criticizes Charlotte for having Maggie as a friend. Fights off the school grounds increase in number and severity. Then there's a problem at a factory where an Irishman is being promoted and this gets Yankee workers angry.

Everything builds to an event where an angry mob of Yankees gathers and sets off to build down the church that the Irish are building.

This is an excellent book and shows just how stupid and narrow-minded some people can be. It seems people can always find new and innovative ways to hate other people. This is all white-on-white hatred. Hating people because they come from another country, have a different religion, are 'overwhelming' the neighborhoods, and are taking jobs that some other group considers rightfully theirs, all things that are just as real today as they were back in 1854.

The story also shows that some people can rise above such stupidity and do their best to bring people together. I consider this a must read.

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