How Green Was My Valley; by Richard Llewellyn.

A small village in the mining region where the protagonist recalls his growing years, where for most families livelihood depends on the mine. The boy has six elder brothers and an elder sister, and the men all work at the mine. The sister falls in love but there is no possibility for the love to come to the fruition.

It sounds dreary, but it is gentle and very full of love somehow instead.