'The Cold Millions' review: Jess Walter's labor of love about unions

Set in wild Washington state a century ago, Jess Walter's "The Cold Millions" bursts with energy, adventure, humor, pathos and irresistible characters. Packed into its bravura storytelling is a close-up look at some of the most dangerous days of the labor movement in the United States and at some of the real people who drove it.

"The Cold Millions" is historical fiction, mixing real people and events with imagined ones. It's also a tribute to Walter's hometown, Spokane, Washington, set there in 1909 amid the city's exuberant and sometimes violent growth around the turn of the 19th century. Framing the story is Gig, one of the countless men and women who crisscrossed the country in search of work. Called floaters and hoboes and many less pleasant names, many of them are immigrants or, like Gig, children of immigrants, at a time when anti-immigrant bigotry is in ugly bloom.

At 23, Gig enjoys this life. He decamped from the bitter family home in Montana as a teenager and loves his freedom. He has lately, though, acquired a responsibility: his 16-year-old brother, Ryan, who adores his handsome, charming brother and is thrilled to be on the road with him. He's also intrigued by his brother's growing involvement in the labor movement.

The city's police force meets the workers' speeches and marches with swift brutality. Walter writes a heart-stopping set piece about one of the police riots that ends with Gig and Ryan jailed in appalling conditions. Rye is freed much sooner than Gig, partly because of his age and partly because of an enigmatic entanglement with Lem Brand, one of Spokane's flamboyant millionaires.

Ryan encounters some questionable characters in his efforts to get Gig out of jail. Some are fictional, but a number of them are real people Walter weaves into his story. The most vivid of these historical figures is Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. Raised in New York by activist progressive parents, she was honing her skills as an orator by the time she was 10. Along with her striking Irish beauty — delicate features, fair skin and a mane of black hair — those skills earned her several nicknames such as "the East Side Joan of Arc."

First arrested at age 15, Elizabeth is, by the time Ryan meets her, a veteran of union organizing all over the country, married and pregnant and all of 19. She is fiery, fearless and impatient with sexist boundaries.

She's in Spokane to help free the hundreds of workers already jailed and to organize a free speech demonstration that will surely end in more arrests. With Gig in a cell, Ryan latches on to Elizabeth like a lost pup. It's an attachment that will open his eyes and his mind, put his life in danger several times over and ultimately break his heart.

Rye's complicated journey from boy to man is the main line through "The Cold Millions," but this big-hearted book is populated by an array of memorable characters who bring a slice of American history to vibrant life.