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Darkness Visible: A Novel of the 1892 Homestead Strike by Trilby Busch

HOMESTEAD NATIVE’S HISTORICAL NOVEL EXPLORES INFAMOUS CARNEGIE STEEL STRIKE -- THE SEMINAL EVENT OF AMERICAN UNION BUSTING

Dr. Trilby Busch’s life experiences were forged by the mills of southwestern Pennsylvania’s Steel Valley. For the first 18 years of her life, she lived within ‘whistle range’ of the Homestead Steel Works – which at its peak employed more than 15,000. Her family, friends, neighbors, indeed everyone in her life at some level, benefited or suffered as a result of fortunes of the hulking giant that hugged the banks of the Monongahela. Life in the gritty, smoky Steel Valley and her father’s lifelong obsession with the infamous Battle of Homestead, during which seven steelworkers and nine Pinkerton soldiers were killed, served as motivations for writing Darkness Visible: A Novel of the 1892 Homestead Strike. Based on interviews with Homestead natives and a decade of careful research, Busch recounts one of America’s most notorious labor conflicts through the eyes of characters inspired by the unsung hardworking heroes of Homestead and the Steel Valley. The story is told from the points-of-view of two major characters living in Homestead: Emlyn, an immigrant working as a laborer at Open Hearth #2 in the Homestead Works, and Homestead doctor William Oesterling, who struggles with conflicts between his daughters: Sarah, an elementary school teacher, and Carrie, the wife of an attorney for H.C. Frick –Carnegie Steel’s chairman. Busch’s family inspired figures in the story. The fictional Karl Bernhard, who flees war in Germany and his son George, who becomes a replacement worker at the Homestead Works, are based upon her own great-grandfather and grandfather respectively. In reality, Busch’s great-grandfather was killed shortly after the Battle of Homestead, by union saboteurs while he tried to start a mill furnace. “The only winner in the Strike, which was actually a lockout, was Carnegie Steel,” says Busch. “Everyone else – the unionists, replacement workers, rehired workers, townspeople, local businesses and even the Pinkertons and general mill superintendent – lost. In many cases, they lost their livelihoods and in the worst cases, their lives.” In Darkness Visible, Busch:

 Provides a historically accurate portrayal of the infamous 1892 Battle of Homestead  Identifies the winners and losers of this conflict which led to four decades of oppressive union busting  Vividly illustrates life in a typical 19th century steel town – a culture brought to near extinction by America’s shift from manufacturing and industry.

Trilby Busch was born and raised in southwestern Pennsylvania’s famous Steel Valley – seven miles upriver from Pittsburgh. After high school, she went onto the College of William and Mary followed by graduate studies at Ohio University.

Now living in Minneapolis, Busch taught at the University of Minnesota – Duluth and Normandale Community College. Her family’s purchase of an 1885 Queen Anne Victorian spurred her interest in preservation and folklore – leading to her publication of more than 150 articles on the subjects.

For more information on Busch and Darkness Visible: A Novel of the 1892 Homestead Strike or to purchase a copy of the book, please visit www.darknessvisiblenovel.com. Copies of the book also can be purchased through amazon.com. E-books are available through amazon.com, and on the Apple platforms, the Barnes and Noble Nook, the Sony eReader, the Kobo and the Diesel Bookstore.

REVIEW COPIES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST