The Last Ballad

In Wiley Cash's powerful new novel, The Last Ballad, set in the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina in 1929, the life of twenty-eight-year-old Ella May Wiggins unfolds as she navigates the harsh realities of working in a textile mill. Struggling for dignity and fair treatment amidst exploitation and racial tensions, Ella May grapples with her responsibilities as a mother and the allure of union activism in a community resistant to change. As her story resonates through time, her daughter Lilly reflects on the impact of those pivotal events, revealing a legacy of courage and resilience against the backdrop of the early labor movement in America.