The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, family drama, feminist literature, historical fiction, immigrant experience, literary fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, family drama, feminist literature, historical fiction, immigrant experience, literary fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury

The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka

From the award-winning author of WHEN THE EMPEROR WAS DIVINE and THE BHUDDA IN THE ATTIC, comes a slim, powerhouse of a novel about loss of identity. In shifting points of view, Julie Otsuka gives us an intuitive look at what it means to lose someone you love to dementia. Brilliant, reflective, compressed, nuanced, empathetic, and global yet intimate, THE SWIMMERS tells the story of a group of obsessed recreational swimmers and what happens to them when a crack appears at the bottom of their local pool.

Read More
The Leopard is Loose by Stephen Harrigan
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, historical fiction, literary fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, historical fiction, literary fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury

The Leopard is Loose by Stephen Harrigan

In Stephen Harrigan’s big-hearted coming-of-age novel, LEOPARD IS LOOSE, five-year-old Grady’s tranquil world is upended when a leopard escapes from the nearby zoo. It’s 1952 and Grady and his 7-year-old brother Danny live with their widowed mother, Bethie, in a two-bedroom backyard apartment across a small patch of yard from her parents and siblings. For most of Grady’s life, the family compound has created a sanctuary where they could each heal from the devastating trauma of the war.

Read More
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
#literarynovel, #native voices, Black Lives Matter, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, Native American Authors, Native Voices, political fiction, race, sense of place, social justice Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, #native voices, Black Lives Matter, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, Native American Authors, Native Voices, political fiction, race, sense of place, social justice Lin Salisbury

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

Erdrich has written another masterpiece. THE SENTENCE is a compelling read that serves as a time capsule. Maybe one day we will look back and remember the Summer of 2020 – not just as a period of loss and trauma – but as the antidote to it. E.B. White famously wrote that a writer must not only reflect and interpret the world but must also sound the alarm. THE SENTENCE does just that.

Read More
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
#literarynovel, Black Lives Matter, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, feminist literature, historical fiction, literary fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, Black Lives Matter, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, feminist literature, historical fiction, literary fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

RED AT THE BONE is a compact novel of trauma and recovery, and all the messiness in between.

Read More
A Play for the End of the World by Jai Chakrabarti
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, Global politics, historical fiction, Holocaust Literature, immigrant experience, literary fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, Global politics, historical fiction, Holocaust Literature, immigrant experience, literary fiction Lin Salisbury

A Play for the End of the World by Jai Chakrabarti

Chakrabarti has a keen sense of timing – oscillating the storyline backward and forward to reveal Jaryk’s motivation, his heart-wrenching past, and his fear of moving into a future as a sole survivor of the orphanage where his story began.

Read More
The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson
#literarynovel, #native voices, author interview, historical fiction, Minnesota interest, Native American Authors, native american history, Native Voices, Nature, Sense of Place Fiction, women's history Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, #native voices, author interview, historical fiction, Minnesota interest, Native American Authors, native american history, Native Voices, Nature, Sense of Place Fiction, women's history Lin Salisbury

The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson

In her profoundly moving first novel, THE SEED KEEPER, Diane Wilson tells the story of Rosalie Iron Wing and her family’s struggle to preserve their cultural heritage. Flashing back and forth in time from Rosalie’s present day, to her early childhood, to the lives of her ancestors, Wilson reveals the devastation wreaked by white settlers on the family’s way of life.

Read More
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
#literarynovel, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, historical fiction, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, historical fiction, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

It’s hard to write about the Dust Bowl without tipping over into melodrama, and at times it felt as if the only thing moving the story forward was the next disaster. The relationships between the women in THE FOUR WINDS kept me invested. Elsa is a bit of a sad-sack, but her daughter Loreda is fierce and as she ages, she challenges Elsa to overcome her fears.

Read More
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, feminist literature, historical fiction, literary fiction, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, feminist literature, historical fiction, literary fiction, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

THE GREAT CIRCLE is a big book – not just because it is nearly 600 pages long – but because of the breadth of the subject matter – art, aviation, prohibition, noncomformity, war, isolation, connection – and the period it spans 1909-2014 – give or take a few decade gaps. There will be So. Much. To. Discuss. with your book group! Maggie Shipstead has a keen understanding of longing and what it means to be human.

Read More
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
#literarynovel, character driven fiction, coming of age, family drama, feminist literature, Sense of Place Fiction, Southern Fiction, women's issues #literarynovel, character driven fiction, coming of age, family drama, feminist literature, Sense of Place Fiction, Southern Fiction, women's issues

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

The choices Stella and Desiree make, and the outcomes of those choices, reveal the ugly inventions of race and sex and class in America. Hobbled by those definitions, Bennett’s characters push and pull against them. Stella sacrifices family and true connection for a false identity. Desiree surrenders to her identity and sacrifices her dreams.

Read More
Send for Me by Lauren Fox
#literarynovel, author interview, family drama, historical fiction, Holocaust Literature, immigrant experience, literary fiction #literarynovel, author interview, family drama, historical fiction, Holocaust Literature, immigrant experience, literary fiction

Send for Me by Lauren Fox

Powerfully conveyed through shifting narratives, SEND FOR ME is not a lament, but rather an ode to family and a love that transcends time and place. I recommend SEND FOR ME for fans of Kristin Hannah and Geraldine Brooks. Listen to my interview with Lauren Fox on Superior Reads, May 27 at 7:00 pm.

Read More
Early Morning Riser
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, fiction humor, women's issues #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, fiction humor, women's issues

Early Morning Riser

I cannot recommend EARLY MORNING RISER enough. EARLY MORNING RISER brims with love and hope and humor. Heiny redefines family in this enchanting novel and I felt my heart lifted from the heaviness of the past year. Her characters are complex and quirky – they’re your mother, your brother, or your neighbor – they are just like all those complicated people you encounter on a daily basis. Whether you live in a small town, or your village of people is in a big city, you’ll recognize them and after reading EARLY MORNING RISER, you’ll find the things that may have previously annoyed you, endearing. Heiny is like that – through her lens, you’ll see things differently.

Read More
Brood by Jackie Polzin
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, midwestern fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, women's issues #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, midwestern fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, women's issues

Brood by Jackie Polzin

BROOD brims with hope in the midst of grief and tenderness in spite of loss. “Life is the ongoing effort to live,” Polzin writes, “some people make it look easy. Chickens do not.” BROOD is an honest look at life, love, loss, and to some extent, chickens.

Read More
Little Faith by Nickolas Butler
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, midwestern fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, midwestern fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction

Little Faith by Nickolas Butler

Butler masterfully examines the tenuous bonds of family against the backdrop of faith. The emotional landscape fittingly mirrors the physical as we progress through the seasons. LITTLE FAITH explores the significance of lifelong friendships, the fickleness of the seasons, and the capriciousness of romantic and familial love. In Butler’s world, as in real life, nothing comes without a price.

Read More
American Gospel by Lin Enger
#literarynovel, author interview, family drama, literary fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Sense of Place Fiction #literarynovel, author interview, family drama, literary fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Sense of Place Fiction

American Gospel by Lin Enger

AMERICAN GOSPEL will be out in October and is Lin Enger’s third novel. The plot revolves around the apocalyptic vision of an old man whose message resonates with a nation in turmoil. Like his other novels, Undiscovered Country and High Divide, AMERICAN GOSPEL flawlessly weaves together personal stories of fractured families with historical events resulting in a satisfying, yet surprising resolution.

Read More
The Land by Thomas Maltman
#literarynovel, author interview, dystopian literature, literary fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Sense of Place Fiction #literarynovel, author interview, dystopian literature, literary fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Sense of Place Fiction

The Land by Thomas Maltman

There’s a lot at stake in Maltman’s THE LAND – will Lucien be able to infiltrate the Rose of Sharon and maintain his integrity? Can a soul in search of meaning unwittingly find it in a corrupt religion? These questions, dear reader, are the ingredients of a page turner.

Read More
The Street by Ann Petry
#literarynovel, historical fiction, literary fiction, women's issues #literarynovel, historical fiction, literary fiction, women's issues

The Street by Ann Petry

Petry’s voice is distinctive and the motivation of her characters is intelligible. The street is the real antagonist in the novel – a living thing hellbent on destroying its inhabitants through deprivation or exploitation. The street takes mothers away from their children as they go to and from their domestic jobs. The street is a playground for their unattended children, leaving them vulnerable to nefarious people and schemes.

Read More
Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld
#literarynovel, historical fiction, literary fiction, political fiction, women's history, women's issues #literarynovel, historical fiction, literary fiction, political fiction, women's history, women's issues

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld

RODHAM is a glorious mash up of the real with the imagined. Sittenfeld inserts real-life people, including Donald Trump, into her alternate history with some surprising outcomes. A satisfying read for those of us who wish that we could have a do-over of the 2016 election.

Read More
Deacon King Kong by James McBride
#literarynovel, fiction humor, historical fiction, Sense of Place Fiction #literarynovel, fiction humor, historical fiction, Sense of Place Fiction

Deacon King Kong by James McBride

McBride shows deep affection for his characters – whether they be the Latinx or African American residents, the congregants of the Five Ends Baptist Church, the Italian mob, the cops investigating the crime, or King Kong- addled Sportcoat – under McBride’s watchful eye, they are all redeemable.

Read More