Janis M. Falk

Creative writer.

New novel Not Yet Lost coming September 9th, 2025

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Not Yet Lost

In this gritty, cinematic story, hardworking Florence and her best friend, Basia, are enraged with poor treatment, low wages, and working conditions in the factory in which they hand roll cigars. Florence is as reserved and compliant as Basia is fiery and forthright.

In a classic underdog story, in a time when choices were between bad and worse, a woman searches for her voice to lead the labor movement against her husband’s violent efforts to silence her.

The novel portrays the Eastern European immigrant struggle in turbulent 1937 Detroit when difficult economic times, xenophobia, “Fordism,” secret societies, and Communist led labor organizations buffeted the demographic.

Will Florence and Alex resolve their conflicts both inside and outside the home?

At what cost?

Falk’s research is impeccable—she faithfully conveys the volatile and uncertain march for labor rights at the time, highlighting the ways in which the movement was especially precarious for the nation’s immigrant population.

— kirkus reviews

Behind the Book

On a school field trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts, I saw Diego Rivera’s tribute to Detroit’s industry. I reacted viscerally.

Clanking of the stamping machine scraped my ears. Hot foundry tools scorched my fingertips. Smelting taconite singed my nose. Men wrestled an engine block. I licked my salty lips at the suggestion of sweat. My muscles, twinged with their strain. One of the men wrestling an engine block resembled my grandfather. It wasn’t, but it could’ve been.

Rivera’s mural taught me to find beauty and worth in the working class, in my family, my heritage, and me.

— Janis M. Falk

All Art Is Propaganda.

“All Art Is Propaganda. Every strong artist has been a propagandist. I want to be a propagandist and I want to be nothing else. I want to use my art as a weapon.”

— Diego Rivera

White Eagle Cigar Factory

Polish women in Detroit took to the streets to demand improved working conditions and union recognition.

Their marches and sit down strikes in cigar factories contributed to the “Spirit of 1937” when workers claimed their due after their great sacrifices during the Depression.

Łoniow, Poland

Visiting relatives in northeast Poland sparked my quest to understand the enigmatic history of Eastern Europe.

The tent pitched for our welcome party is referenced in the book. This farm, Henryk’s, inspired two characters and their backstory in Not Yet Lost .

Falk has created a riveting story of the 1930s labor movement in Detroit. Through extensive research and complex characters, she reveals an emotional portrait of the Polish immigrant community and the forces working to keep them down, a tale so relevant to today.

— Jerod Santek, Founding & Artistic Director, Write On, Door County

Further Reading

1937 Cigar Factory Strike

Polish women immigrants in Detroit set a standard for both gender specific labor organization as well as all workers worldwide. Women in retail, drugstores, and many other industries followed their lead.

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The Black Legion

Tom Stanton is the author of Terror in the City of Champions . I was introduced to the Black Legion and its persecution of immigrant laborers from Mr. Stanton’s book.

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Dodge Main Auto Plant

Here you’ll find more information on the innovative Dodge Brothers manufacturing facility designed by Albert Kahn.

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This beautiful book is a love letter to the working class.

— Kim Suhr, Director, Red oak writing

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