A Harvest of Thorns by Corban Addison

A Harvest of Thorns by Corban Addison is the author's 4th novel, the other 3 were best sellers.  If you are wanting to read a book that will change the way you view the world, the way you shop for your clothing, or the way you view the corporate world than read this book. The novel  catches the reader's attention in the first chapter with the fire which trapped the factory workers inside the building which only had one door and the windows that were barred.  Somehow a few of the workers managed to through the window and a few escaped the fire to either die in the fall or suffer many lifelong injuries.  Needless to say the factory was not following the rules that the United States companies had laid down but it was also found that the US companies had overseers who did know and were just turning a blind eye to the atrocities found in the factories.  This factory was a subcontractor for a supplier that the US company did know.  These people who managed to survive were not covered by any workman's compensation nor any other insurance.  When the US company found out that it was their products that were being made they also did little or nothing to help the victims of the fire or their family.  This novel is about how the person sent to investigate the fire for the US corporation was changed.  When he reported the abuses going on in Bangladesh and other countries' factories working for them the corporation chose to continue to ignore the abuses taking place and just strengthen the rules that the inspectors would oversee. Cameron the senior officer of the corporation sent to look into the could not live with that plan and went to a reporter, Josh, who he knew was also married to a lawyer in hopes of starting a law suit to defend some of the victims. 

 Mr. Addison was changed by a fire in 2012 in a Bangladesh fashions factory named Tazreen.  In that fire the factory was manufacturing clothing for Walmart but they also manufactured clothing for Target, Sears, Gap, Zara, and many more.  This fire was similar to the one described in the novel and just as in the novel the press made a big story out of it for a short time then went on to the next big thing.  In the novel it is fictionalized as to what could have happened.

As I read this book I was aghast at how blasé I am about the clothing that I wear and where it comes from.  I had known that my clothing was now carrying the Bangladesh label and were a now Viet Nam and others.  One thing these labels have in common is that they are all developing countries.  I hope that I am a better consumer and do not just forget these people who make my clothing when the next big thing catches my attention.
I received this book from BookLook for this review.