The Wailing Wind: A Tale of Love and Obsession

THE WAILING WIND, A TALE OF LOVE AND OBSESSION,is an intriguing story of the strange relationship that exists between Henry Shane and Edith Miller and the challenges they face in their quest for love and security in the deteriorating community of Sinclair in the Coal Region of Pennsylvania.It is the life of Edith Miller, a wanton woman, who is obsessed with sex, and Henry Shane, an immoral man who endured the pain and agony of the Korean War and the ordeal of confinement at Pak's Palace, a prisoner of war camp near Pyongyang, North Korea.The strange love obsession between Henry Shane and Edith Miller begins during World War II and reaches a climax when Henry Shane returns to Sinclair from the Korean War as a crippled and highly decorated soldier.They are cognizant of their many immoral activities of the past. Yet, they agree to go from immorality to reconciliation and finally are united in marriage, but are not aware of the wailing wind that will continue to torment and plague them for the remaining days of their life. The emphasis is on the social and economic environment that once existed in a typical coal mining community during the pre and post Korean War era, as well as those men and woman of various ethnic groups it has touched and changed.

Joseph T. Renaldi was born and reared in the Western Coal Region of Pennsylvania. He witnessed many of the difficulties and hardships encountered by the people who resided in the Coal Region and also served in the armed forces during the Korean War. He is a graduate of Windber High school,Windber,Pennsylvania and Western Maryland College,Westminster,Maryland and served forty (40)years in the field of education. He is now retired and resides in Frackville, Pennsylvania where he is involved in art and woodcrafts and is working on a new book.