The fictional town of Black Bear Creek lies tucked in a remote hollow of the Coal River Valley in West Virginia, a region reliant on and devastated by the mining industry.
Cross\'s raw, spare prose reflects the barren landscape his characters inhab.
But amongst this bleak backdrop, they find ways to love and hope and fight.
The people in these stories struggle to survive against rampant poverty while their drinking water is poisoned and the mountains around them are stripped away.
The fictional town of Black Bear Creek lies tucked in a remote hollow of the Coal River Valley in West Virginia, a region reliant on and devastated by the mining industry