Canawlers

A Novel of the C & O Canal

By: James Rada Jr.

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Curious how to pronounce the title?

It's CAN-all-ers. It's what boatmen on the C&O Canal called themselves.

Just about everyone else said, "canallers," but the C&O Canal boatmen spoke with an accent. They also had a challenging and dangerous job during the Civil War. Canawlers brought coal and other goods 185 miles from Cumberland, Maryland, to Georgetown along the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia. The C&O Canal ran along the border of two warring nations, the canawlers were caught in the crossfire.

Hugh Fitzgerald is a proud canawler. For ten months a year, he and his family live on their canal boat, working hard to earn enough to get them through the lean winter months when the canal is drained.

The year 1862 is a hard year to live on the canal, though. To this point, the Confederacy has stayed south of the canal, but now the Confederate Army intends to go on the offensive and take the war into the north.

Not only are the Fitzgeralds' lives endangered by the increased activity of warring armies and raiders on the canal, but the Fitzgeralds' secret activity as a stop along the Underground Railroad only endangers their lives all the more.

Then fate takes Hugh away from his family, leaving his wife, Alice, to hold the family together. With the help of her children; Thomas, George, and Elizabeth; Tony, an orphan from Cumberland; and David Windover, a disillusioned Confederate soldier, they will face the dangers presented by the war, nature, and the railroad together.

This new edition has been released for the 20th anniversary of the original publication of Canawlers.

From the reviewers:

• Canawlers “A powerful, thoughtful and fascinating historical novel, Canawlers documents author James Rada, Jr. as a writer of considerable and deftly expressed storytelling talent.” - Midwest Book Review
• “James Rada, of Cumberland, has written a historical novel for high-schoolers and adults, which relates the adventures, hardships and ultimate tragedy of a family of boaters on the C&O Canal. ... The tale moves quickly and should hold the attention of readers looking for an imaginative adventure set on the canal at a critical time in history.” - Along the Towpath
• “Mr. Rada presents an interesting slice of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal boatman’s life set against the backdrop of the turbulence and uncertainty of the American Civil War. The use of the canal as a route on the Underground Railroad is also woven into the plot which reveals how hard work, a strong family and difficult times could come together along the canal.” - Rita L. Knox, Park Ranger, C&O Canal NHP

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