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Northern Trilogy #2
Laurentian Divide
Winner of the 2019 Minnesota Book Award for Novel & Short Story
Poignant portrayals of life on the edge in northern Minnesota border country, from the best-selling author of These Granite Islands and Vacationland
Bitter winters are nothing new in Hatchet Inlet, hard up against the ridge of the Laurentian Divide, but the advent of spring can’t thaw the community’s collective grief, lingering since a senseless tragedy the previous fall. What is different this year is what’s missing: Rauri Paar, the last private landowner in the Reserve, whose annual emergence from his remote iced-in islands marks the beginning of spring and the promise of a kinder season.
The town’s residents gather at the local diner and, amid talk of spring weather, the latest gossip, roadkill, and the daily special, take bets on when Rauri will appear—or imagine what happened to him during the long and brutal winter. Retired union miner and widower Alpo Lahti is about to wed the diner’s charming and lively waitress, Sissy Pavola, but, with Rauri still unaccounted for, celebration seems premature. Alpo’s son Pete struggles to find his straight and narrow, then struggles to stay on it, and even Sissy might be having second thoughts.
Weaving in and out of each other’s reach, trying hard to do their best (all the while wondering what that might be), the residents of this remote town in all their sweetness and sorrow remind us once more of the inescapable lurches of the heart and unexpected turns of our human comedy.
Poignant portrayals of life on the edge in northern Minnesota border country, from the best-selling author of These Granite Islands and Vacationland
Bitter winters are nothing new in Hatchet Inlet, hard up against the ridge of the Laurentian Divide, but the advent of spring can’t thaw the community’s collective grief, lingering since a senseless tragedy the previous fall. What is different this year is what’s missing: Rauri Paar, the last private landowner in the Reserve, whose annual emergence from his remote iced-in islands marks the beginning of spring and the promise of a kinder season.
The town’s residents gather at the local diner and, amid talk of spring weather, the latest gossip, roadkill, and the daily special, take bets on when Rauri will appear—or imagine what happened to him during the long and brutal winter. Retired union miner and widower Alpo Lahti is about to wed the diner’s charming and lively waitress, Sissy Pavola, but, with Rauri still unaccounted for, celebration seems premature. Alpo’s son Pete struggles to find his straight and narrow, then struggles to stay on it, and even Sissy might be having second thoughts.
Weaving in and out of each other’s reach, trying hard to do their best (all the while wondering what that might be), the residents of this remote town in all their sweetness and sorrow remind us once more of the inescapable lurches of the heart and unexpected turns of our human comedy.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published September 18, 2018
15 people are currently reading
1133 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Stonich
16 books245 followersThe author of internationally acclaimed and award-winning novels "Laurentian Divide" and "Vacationland", the first two volumes in her Northern trilogy. Her earlier novels, "These Granite Islands" and "The Ice Chorus", left their marks on readers around the world, having been translated into eleven languages - most recently into Czech. Visit her web site for reviews and info. Sarah's memoir, 'Shelter: Off The Grid In The Mostly Magnetic North', winner of the NE MN Book Award is now available in paperback.
Her feminist fiction Fishing with RayAnne trilogy debuted with "Fishing!" and will be followed next year by "Reeling". Sarah writes and lives in Minnesota with her husband, Jon. For more visit sarahstonich.com and like her FB page: Sarah Stonich Bookshelf
Her feminist fiction Fishing with RayAnne trilogy debuted with "Fishing!" and will be followed next year by "Reeling". Sarah writes and lives in Minnesota with her husband, Jon. For more visit sarahstonich.com and like her FB page: Sarah Stonich Bookshelf
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November 5, 2018
Laurentian Divide is book two in Sarah Stonich's Northern Trilogy set in the far north resort town of Hatchet Inlet, Minnesota. I would highly recommend reading book one, Vacationland, first as it introduces many of these characters.
The book opens with a transcript of the polka service sermon from November. Pastor Dan is a rip and doesn't mind getting political, talking about welcoming immigrants and denigrating 'fools making noise about building walls. That is what we've come to,' he says. 'I want to think here in Hatchet Inlet we are better than that.' Pastor Dan is my kind of guy!
Now on to the story: the local crowd at Pavlova's cafe are wondering when recluse, Rauri, will make his appearance now that the ice has thawed. Rauri is the local harbinger of spring and the townspeople lay bets on the exact day he'll show up. But spring is moving along with no sign of Rauri. Did something happen to him over the winter? Who will volunteer to go find out? It's a rough 3-hour trip with canoeing and portages.
Meanwhile waitress Sissy will soon marry Alpo Lahti, a widower twenty years her senior. His son Pete, the local vet, has been in and out of rehab for alcoholism. Will it stick this time so he can see more of his kids?
These characters and others ring true to life; you're sure to run into some of them at your local greasy spoon. They are a close-knit group who quarrel amongst themselves and still resent 'incomers' even after 25 years.
The rustic setting again plays a role in the story. They are up by Lake Superior, just a hairsbreadth away from Canada, where deer and other wild animals abound, and where tourists annoy locals but are the lifeblood of the town's economy.
If you've ever spent any time in the upper Midwest (Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin), you'll recognize the rustic setting and its rough people. Oh! And the pasties! sigh...
I'm really looking forward to the last book in the trilogy now. What will happen to our new-found friends? Sarah Stonich is a fine writer who draws the reader into the story and makes you care deeply about these people, their joys and their sorrows.
Many thanks to the publisher, author and NetGalley for providing me with access to an arc of this delightful new book for an honest review.
The book opens with a transcript of the polka service sermon from November. Pastor Dan is a rip and doesn't mind getting political, talking about welcoming immigrants and denigrating 'fools making noise about building walls. That is what we've come to,' he says. 'I want to think here in Hatchet Inlet we are better than that.' Pastor Dan is my kind of guy!
Now on to the story: the local crowd at Pavlova's cafe are wondering when recluse, Rauri, will make his appearance now that the ice has thawed. Rauri is the local harbinger of spring and the townspeople lay bets on the exact day he'll show up. But spring is moving along with no sign of Rauri. Did something happen to him over the winter? Who will volunteer to go find out? It's a rough 3-hour trip with canoeing and portages.
Meanwhile waitress Sissy will soon marry Alpo Lahti, a widower twenty years her senior. His son Pete, the local vet, has been in and out of rehab for alcoholism. Will it stick this time so he can see more of his kids?
These characters and others ring true to life; you're sure to run into some of them at your local greasy spoon. They are a close-knit group who quarrel amongst themselves and still resent 'incomers' even after 25 years.
The rustic setting again plays a role in the story. They are up by Lake Superior, just a hairsbreadth away from Canada, where deer and other wild animals abound, and where tourists annoy locals but are the lifeblood of the town's economy.
If you've ever spent any time in the upper Midwest (Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin), you'll recognize the rustic setting and its rough people. Oh! And the pasties! sigh...
I'm really looking forward to the last book in the trilogy now. What will happen to our new-found friends? Sarah Stonich is a fine writer who draws the reader into the story and makes you care deeply about these people, their joys and their sorrows.
Many thanks to the publisher, author and NetGalley for providing me with access to an arc of this delightful new book for an honest review.
September 23, 2018
When I read the opening pages of Sarah Stonich's novel Laurentian Divide was I quite taken by the people in Hatchet Inlet.
"The topic over at Pavola's was death," the novel begins, not the weekly sort occurring at the Senior Cedars or the tragic kind after two local girls were killed in a "drunken swerve", but the "theoretical"--Rauri Paar has not shown up in town since the spring ice break. The customers at Pavola's are concerned and postulating the various ways Rauri may have kicked the bucket.
We meet Pete and his father Alpo, and sisters Laurie and Sissy who run the cafe, and various locals, most all with Finnish names and demonstrating their independent and stubborn heritage. Pete gratefully thinks, "I've never known a Finn to do things the easy way. Thank God, I'm half Irish. Thanks, Mom."
Sissy runs the cafe and is engaged to the widower Alpo, twenty years her senior. Early onset Alzheimers runs in Sissy's family, so their risk is mutual. Pete lost his wife and children to his alcoholism but is seven months sober. His backstory is heartbreaking, hinting at a shattered childhood that Alpo is unaware of.
Rauri wandered into town decades ago after the war and took up his isolated residence. When the land became a preserve he won a lifetime right to live there. If he leaves for over two months, he loses his protection and land. He had to be on the island. Someone should go check on him. It takes three hours and several portages to reach Rauri's home, not a trip for the fainthearted.
The Laurentian Divide in Minnesota is a continental divide which determines which direction and to what sea water flows. It seems an apt symbol. Love requited or unrequited, careers, sobriety or escape, community or isolation--the decisions the characters make determine if they are swept into the killing frigid Arctic or swim into the warmth of Equatorial waters.
But as Sissy remembers,"Cathy says life isn't something that happens to you--how you choose to react to what happens is life."
I received a free ebook from Bookish First in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
"The topic over at Pavola's was death," the novel begins, not the weekly sort occurring at the Senior Cedars or the tragic kind after two local girls were killed in a "drunken swerve", but the "theoretical"--Rauri Paar has not shown up in town since the spring ice break. The customers at Pavola's are concerned and postulating the various ways Rauri may have kicked the bucket.
We meet Pete and his father Alpo, and sisters Laurie and Sissy who run the cafe, and various locals, most all with Finnish names and demonstrating their independent and stubborn heritage. Pete gratefully thinks, "I've never known a Finn to do things the easy way. Thank God, I'm half Irish. Thanks, Mom."
Sissy runs the cafe and is engaged to the widower Alpo, twenty years her senior. Early onset Alzheimers runs in Sissy's family, so their risk is mutual. Pete lost his wife and children to his alcoholism but is seven months sober. His backstory is heartbreaking, hinting at a shattered childhood that Alpo is unaware of.
Rauri wandered into town decades ago after the war and took up his isolated residence. When the land became a preserve he won a lifetime right to live there. If he leaves for over two months, he loses his protection and land. He had to be on the island. Someone should go check on him. It takes three hours and several portages to reach Rauri's home, not a trip for the fainthearted.
The Laurentian Divide in Minnesota is a continental divide which determines which direction and to what sea water flows. It seems an apt symbol. Love requited or unrequited, careers, sobriety or escape, community or isolation--the decisions the characters make determine if they are swept into the killing frigid Arctic or swim into the warmth of Equatorial waters.
But as Sissy remembers,"Cathy says life isn't something that happens to you--how you choose to react to what happens is life."
I received a free ebook from Bookish First in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
January 14, 2019
This is a story of a small, remote, isolated town, called Hatchet Inlet, in Northern Minnesota.
History: About 16,000 years ago, most of Minnesota was covered by a large sheet of ice called the Wisconsin Glacier. When the mountain range eroded as a result of the melting glacier, it left behind the curving range of hills called the Laurentian Divide.
The winters are brutally cold and long; the weather is harsh and unknowing, save for the spring and summertime when an influx of out of towners come up for vacations, fishing, hiking, hunting, water adventures, the beauty of nature. I am very familiar with this kind of environment and small town atmosphere; we go fishing up to northern Minnesota at least once a year. 🙂
Every town resident knows everyone and knows everyone’s business and so that’s pretty much the gist of the story. People’s lives, hopes and dreams. Second chances. The comfort of staying in place and not pursuing a life outside of what they know and have grown in. Applause for those who graduated and were successful, leaving the isolation and quiet for the big city lights, but, not really. Deaths and illnesses hit the community hard and are difficult to process and forget, especially when it’s one of your own. The reader gets taken for a ride through the various peoples’ lives and everyday challenges as they move forward into the future.
Three key running threads are:
1) the disappearance of Rauri, a gentleman of questionable background who arrived in town years ago and settled on a remote piece of land. His arrival in town was met with questions and lack of personal information other than a medical bracelet from Walter Reed military hospital. Often times, those who are looking to settle somewhere out of the prying public eye, search for a remote location like this to land. Rauri is quite self sufficient and a survivalist and usually shows up in town around spring time (or as is called, ice out). He never shows up at the diner at the beginning of the book and that puts everyone in a quandary and sets the tone of the book going forward. He has thrown their cycle off and in a small town, this is very disturbing. Throughout the story, someone will be thinking or saying, “Where’s Rauri?” “What’s happened to Rauri?”
2) The imminent wedding of Alpo and Sissy, twenty years difference in age, yet true love appears to have found and bound these two. But not without taking us into their here and now story and their past history and how they developed a true, loving relationship.
3) Pete, Aldo’s son, a recovering alcoholic and the town’s veterinarian. He’s lost his wife and practice and has been distanced by his two daughters as a result of his drinking. We get to feel the true angst this man goes through to deny the booze, to get in touch with his real feelings, to attempt a visit in a one man kayak to Rauri’s cabin all on his own, in foul weather. This man keeps trying to prove himself to his own self and to others. He’s been better at dealing with animals than humans, but he’s learning his way.
There also was an abuse situation by his uncle as a young boy. He’s stifled this down all his life; from his parents and I would say, also from himself, with the drink pushing it down, down, out of mind. But he’s a survivor and I was rooting him on.
This book would be considered as a slow, but steady burn. I did not know there was a book previous to this one, called “Vacationland;” as I just grabbed it off the new reads library shelf. Still, it read well as a stand-alone.
History: About 16,000 years ago, most of Minnesota was covered by a large sheet of ice called the Wisconsin Glacier. When the mountain range eroded as a result of the melting glacier, it left behind the curving range of hills called the Laurentian Divide.
The winters are brutally cold and long; the weather is harsh and unknowing, save for the spring and summertime when an influx of out of towners come up for vacations, fishing, hiking, hunting, water adventures, the beauty of nature. I am very familiar with this kind of environment and small town atmosphere; we go fishing up to northern Minnesota at least once a year. 🙂
Every town resident knows everyone and knows everyone’s business and so that’s pretty much the gist of the story. People’s lives, hopes and dreams. Second chances. The comfort of staying in place and not pursuing a life outside of what they know and have grown in. Applause for those who graduated and were successful, leaving the isolation and quiet for the big city lights, but, not really. Deaths and illnesses hit the community hard and are difficult to process and forget, especially when it’s one of your own. The reader gets taken for a ride through the various peoples’ lives and everyday challenges as they move forward into the future.
Three key running threads are:
1) the disappearance of Rauri, a gentleman of questionable background who arrived in town years ago and settled on a remote piece of land. His arrival in town was met with questions and lack of personal information other than a medical bracelet from Walter Reed military hospital. Often times, those who are looking to settle somewhere out of the prying public eye, search for a remote location like this to land. Rauri is quite self sufficient and a survivalist and usually shows up in town around spring time (or as is called, ice out). He never shows up at the diner at the beginning of the book and that puts everyone in a quandary and sets the tone of the book going forward. He has thrown their cycle off and in a small town, this is very disturbing. Throughout the story, someone will be thinking or saying, “Where’s Rauri?” “What’s happened to Rauri?”
2) The imminent wedding of Alpo and Sissy, twenty years difference in age, yet true love appears to have found and bound these two. But not without taking us into their here and now story and their past history and how they developed a true, loving relationship.
3) Pete, Aldo’s son, a recovering alcoholic and the town’s veterinarian. He’s lost his wife and practice and has been distanced by his two daughters as a result of his drinking. We get to feel the true angst this man goes through to deny the booze, to get in touch with his real feelings, to attempt a visit in a one man kayak to Rauri’s cabin all on his own, in foul weather. This man keeps trying to prove himself to his own self and to others. He’s been better at dealing with animals than humans, but he’s learning his way.
There also was an abuse situation by his uncle as a young boy. He’s stifled this down all his life; from his parents and I would say, also from himself, with the drink pushing it down, down, out of mind. But he’s a survivor and I was rooting him on.
This book would be considered as a slow, but steady burn. I did not know there was a book previous to this one, called “Vacationland;” as I just grabbed it off the new reads library shelf. Still, it read well as a stand-alone.
September 11, 2018
I didn’t realize this was the second of a Northern Trilogy when I requested it, but as soon as I realized it, I decided to read Vacationland, the first of the series. Vacationland consists of short stories about characters within the same community whose lives cross paths throughout the years. The characters I read about in Vacationland appear again in Laurentian Divide. It’s probably not necessary to read the first of the trilogy, but it does provide some background information for the second book of the series.
Laurentian Divide mainly focuses on two important events in Hatchet Inlet. One is the wedding of Sissy and Alpo, a local couple who are marrying late in life, and the other is the whereabouts of the last landowner in the Reserve, Rauri Parr.
The locals each face different struggles and Stonich successfully captures the sense of a small town community and how the people come together to help each other. They know everything about each other--but in some ways they don’t know anything at all.
Alpo’s son Pete, the local veterinarian, is a prominent character in the novel as he struggles to maintain sobriety. Pete provides readers with some apprehension when he goes of in search of Rauri on the day before the wedding. I really enjoyed Pete’s story line.
Another character not to miss is Louise, the mother of the bride. Louise is suffering from some form of dementia and lives in a home for senior adults. She often says things that others discount as a symptom of the illness. Well, trust me on this--pay attention to Louise! She turns out to be the life of the party at the wedding.
This is an enjoyable novel and one that will be a favorite to read in order to capture a sense of the Minnesota area near the Canadian border.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the University of Minnesota Press for allowing me to read an advance copy and offer my honest review.
Laurentian Divide mainly focuses on two important events in Hatchet Inlet. One is the wedding of Sissy and Alpo, a local couple who are marrying late in life, and the other is the whereabouts of the last landowner in the Reserve, Rauri Parr.
The locals each face different struggles and Stonich successfully captures the sense of a small town community and how the people come together to help each other. They know everything about each other--but in some ways they don’t know anything at all.
Alpo’s son Pete, the local veterinarian, is a prominent character in the novel as he struggles to maintain sobriety. Pete provides readers with some apprehension when he goes of in search of Rauri on the day before the wedding. I really enjoyed Pete’s story line.
Another character not to miss is Louise, the mother of the bride. Louise is suffering from some form of dementia and lives in a home for senior adults. She often says things that others discount as a symptom of the illness. Well, trust me on this--pay attention to Louise! She turns out to be the life of the party at the wedding.
This is an enjoyable novel and one that will be a favorite to read in order to capture a sense of the Minnesota area near the Canadian border.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the University of Minnesota Press for allowing me to read an advance copy and offer my honest review.
September 19, 2018
GNAB The community in far northern Minnesota of Hatchet Inlet, verging on the wilderness park of Laurentian Reserve, is very small but closer than most families. Most years they endure 7 months of winter, and celebrate summer and the joys of each other - but also they share the sorrow and sense of loss encountered in the lives of their kin and neighbors. All mourn the presence of early onset alzheimer's that has hit Louise Pavola so very hard. Now in Senor Cedars nursing home, she is rarely 'there' though they all visit often.
We visit the inlet community in May as they watch the ice break up in the bay, and worry that the hermit Rauri Paar should have been to town by now - they hope he is not dead - or maybe he's just not alive. 'Spring is here' or 'Rauri's back' are synonymous. "Some folks won't set seedlings in their windowsills until they've seen the whites of Rauri's eyes." And the big betting pool for officially guessing the iceout time and date is waiting at Palova's Diner. Rauri always shows up to officially set the time and winner, and ice has been out on the big lake for four days, now.
Fear of death rides them all heavily this year - last fall they lost two of their own, young women just approaching adulthood. Kelly Rantala and Jessica Wiirtinen were best friends, always together, and together lost their lives in a tipsy road accident. Every citizen of Hatchet Inlet lost a child they loved and watched grow into adulthood, or a fellow student, or a favorite babysitter. No heart is left whole.
It had been a hard winter, longer than most. But better times are coming - Pete Lahti, veterinarian, and Meg Machutova, artist - both in their 40's- are back, perhaps to stay. Alpo Lahti and Sissy Pavola will soon marry. Someone is going to win the kitty for iceout eventually. This year it is a little over two grand. Pete Lahti has been sober this time for over six months. And Laurentian Reserve is officially 100% wilderness and free of combustion engines with the only exception the three small islands owned by Rauri, which revert to the state on his death, or if he leaves the island for longer than two months time. But he can't be dead. Or not alive.
I love these stories from the snow-locked north. I choose to live in the desert foothills of the Sacramento Mountains, for the most part snow-free, but only 19 miles to visit the snow fields of Cloudcroft, NM at 9,000 feet. But reading of snowed in - that is wonderful. Specially when it's 106 degrees in August. And this was a wonderful book, any time of the year. The protagonists are perfect - well rounded people you feel that you know personally, and just a little bit crazy. The town and the Reserve are so well defined you could have already been there, and the story is tight. Laurentian Divide is the middle novel of trilogy, but completely stand alone. I will however be getting Vacationland as soon as possible and cannot wait for the conclusion novel.
I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Sarah Stonich, and the University of Minnesota Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.
pub date Sept 7, 2018
Rec Sept 9, 2018
University of Minnesota Press
We visit the inlet community in May as they watch the ice break up in the bay, and worry that the hermit Rauri Paar should have been to town by now - they hope he is not dead - or maybe he's just not alive. 'Spring is here' or 'Rauri's back' are synonymous. "Some folks won't set seedlings in their windowsills until they've seen the whites of Rauri's eyes." And the big betting pool for officially guessing the iceout time and date is waiting at Palova's Diner. Rauri always shows up to officially set the time and winner, and ice has been out on the big lake for four days, now.
Fear of death rides them all heavily this year - last fall they lost two of their own, young women just approaching adulthood. Kelly Rantala and Jessica Wiirtinen were best friends, always together, and together lost their lives in a tipsy road accident. Every citizen of Hatchet Inlet lost a child they loved and watched grow into adulthood, or a fellow student, or a favorite babysitter. No heart is left whole.
It had been a hard winter, longer than most. But better times are coming - Pete Lahti, veterinarian, and Meg Machutova, artist - both in their 40's- are back, perhaps to stay. Alpo Lahti and Sissy Pavola will soon marry. Someone is going to win the kitty for iceout eventually. This year it is a little over two grand. Pete Lahti has been sober this time for over six months. And Laurentian Reserve is officially 100% wilderness and free of combustion engines with the only exception the three small islands owned by Rauri, which revert to the state on his death, or if he leaves the island for longer than two months time. But he can't be dead. Or not alive.
I love these stories from the snow-locked north. I choose to live in the desert foothills of the Sacramento Mountains, for the most part snow-free, but only 19 miles to visit the snow fields of Cloudcroft, NM at 9,000 feet. But reading of snowed in - that is wonderful. Specially when it's 106 degrees in August. And this was a wonderful book, any time of the year. The protagonists are perfect - well rounded people you feel that you know personally, and just a little bit crazy. The town and the Reserve are so well defined you could have already been there, and the story is tight. Laurentian Divide is the middle novel of trilogy, but completely stand alone. I will however be getting Vacationland as soon as possible and cannot wait for the conclusion novel.
I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Sarah Stonich, and the University of Minnesota Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.
pub date Sept 7, 2018
Rec Sept 9, 2018
University of Minnesota Press
November 8, 2018
First of all, I'd like to point out this is a second book in this series. The first one is called Vacationland which I plan on reading soon before the 3rd book comes out. With that being said, let's move on.
This book isn't any of the action, thriller, suspense, horror, or romance genre. I have no idea what to call this genre.
It is a novel of an ordinary small town located in Northern Minnesota of ordinary people. Laurentide Divide has a rich setting full of colors, quirkiness, and humor. The characters in this fictionalized little town were delightful to read.
Very relatable. I laughed, I cried, I frowned and I smiled with them.
What makes this book unique and enjoyable? The lives of the people which at the moment are being held together by politics, cultures, tragedies, hope and love. There are several plots in this book richly interwoven together. I actually felt immersed in this community even though it's not real.
I intend to read the first book, Vacationland before the 3rd book comes out. I cannot wait for it to come out.
I'd give it a 4 stars.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Do yourself a favor and get this book. It's worth the heart warming, feel good, and a whole lot of thinking everything!
I received this ARC from University of Minnesota Press through Net Galley and Bookish First in exchange for my unbiased and honest review. Thank you
This book isn't any of the action, thriller, suspense, horror, or romance genre. I have no idea what to call this genre.
It is a novel of an ordinary small town located in Northern Minnesota of ordinary people. Laurentide Divide has a rich setting full of colors, quirkiness, and humor. The characters in this fictionalized little town were delightful to read.
Very relatable. I laughed, I cried, I frowned and I smiled with them.
What makes this book unique and enjoyable? The lives of the people which at the moment are being held together by politics, cultures, tragedies, hope and love. There are several plots in this book richly interwoven together. I actually felt immersed in this community even though it's not real.
I intend to read the first book, Vacationland before the 3rd book comes out. I cannot wait for it to come out.
I'd give it a 4 stars.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Do yourself a favor and get this book. It's worth the heart warming, feel good, and a whole lot of thinking everything!
I received this ARC from University of Minnesota Press through Net Galley and Bookish First in exchange for my unbiased and honest review. Thank you
September 18, 2018
I really enjoyed Laurentian Divide. I only wish I had known about Vacationland being the first in this series, or I would have read that first, but you don't need to. At least don't think you do. I definitely will be reading that ASAP.
So, there's this guy - he sort of signals the beginning of Spring every year when he lumbers into this cold sleepy MN town from the island he's been inhabiting. But this year, he doesn't show up and people start to worry. It's a small town so people talk, a lot. And we meet A LOT of those people - there are SO many characters to keep trakc of in this book, but thankfully they are so individual and unique and their stories so different - it's fairly easy to keep track. And that's where the book lives- in the stories and rich history of these people, in this town, Minnesota being a character in itself as we realize the harsh reality of living out in the wilderness of these towns, as well as a small town where everyone knows everything about everybody.
I enjoyed this - I'll be reading more from this author for sure!
So, there's this guy - he sort of signals the beginning of Spring every year when he lumbers into this cold sleepy MN town from the island he's been inhabiting. But this year, he doesn't show up and people start to worry. It's a small town so people talk, a lot. And we meet A LOT of those people - there are SO many characters to keep trakc of in this book, but thankfully they are so individual and unique and their stories so different - it's fairly easy to keep track. And that's where the book lives- in the stories and rich history of these people, in this town, Minnesota being a character in itself as we realize the harsh reality of living out in the wilderness of these towns, as well as a small town where everyone knows everything about everybody.
I enjoyed this - I'll be reading more from this author for sure!
September 25, 2018
Thanks to Bookishfirst.com and University of Minnesota Press for this ARC.
I didn't realize this was the 2nd book in the series but obviously it can be read as a stand alone since I never read the first one.
This book started out slow and it wasn't until page 100 when it finally picked up for me. Once it did, I liked it a lot better.
Set in MN, in a small town, the characters were many and their lives centered around their family diner with many friends passing through.
One of the main characters is Alpo, who marries Sissy who is one of the owners of the cafe, her sister Laurie, and other characters. To me, the main plot was finding Rauri, who lives like a recluse on a small island. Pete, Alpo's son, a former alcoholic, fights with his demons daily.
Living in a rural area during Winter can be hard but it didn't focus on the weather much but on the lives of the many people living life here, only their lives and how close they were.
I didn't realize this was the 2nd book in the series but obviously it can be read as a stand alone since I never read the first one.
This book started out slow and it wasn't until page 100 when it finally picked up for me. Once it did, I liked it a lot better.
Set in MN, in a small town, the characters were many and their lives centered around their family diner with many friends passing through.
One of the main characters is Alpo, who marries Sissy who is one of the owners of the cafe, her sister Laurie, and other characters. To me, the main plot was finding Rauri, who lives like a recluse on a small island. Pete, Alpo's son, a former alcoholic, fights with his demons daily.
Living in a rural area during Winter can be hard but it didn't focus on the weather much but on the lives of the many people living life here, only their lives and how close they were.
September 24, 2018
I was attracted to this book because of a blurb from Richard Russo, whose fiction about ordinary folks in ordinary towns I have enjoyed. Once again, Richard Russo has delivered a real reading pleasure for me, and this time he didn’t even have to write a book!
Laurentian Divide is about the lives of the people of Hatchet Inlet, a small town in northern Minnesota. The characters and their stories are what drives the book, but it is held together by two plot threads, momentous events in the lives of local characters. The first is the whereabouts of Rauri Paar, a reclusive local landowner who disappears into his remote cabin each fall and emerges in the spring when the ice breaks up. Spring has come (more or less), but no one has seen Rauri, and he does not answer his phone. Concern about him is a big topic at the local diner where the town residents gather, and the other big topic is the upcoming wedding of retired miner Alpo Lahti to a younger woman, Sissy Pavola, who is part-owner and waitress at the diner. There are many detours into the lives of town residents, like Alpo’s son Pete, the local veterinarian, and the people we meet are normal enough to be very believable but interesting enough that I enjoyed getting to know them better. Many of them have problems, as is true in life, but this was not a book where every single person seemed dysfunctional and weighed down by a ton of hurt. There was only one issue that seemed to be tritely ripped from today’s news, and my only hope is that it will not appear again if Stonich writes more about Hatchet Inlet (This is the second book in a trilogy about the town, following Vacationland.). The townsfolk are obviously very fond of their dogs, and you gotta chuckle when you realize that Sissy has a dog named Jeff (a member of the wedding party, who will be giving away the bride) and a fiancé named Alpo! The name Alpo may not be a pun relating to dog food, in this case, however. As I was reading the book I kept trying to identify the ethnicity of the residents when I encountered odd names like Lahti or Rauri Paar, and then I learned the area was settled by many people from Finland, who have names many Americans would not recognize.
When I describe the book as character-driven, I do NOT want to slight the writing! It is beautifully done, vivid and artful without coming across as pretentious. I was intrigued at the opening, which is an excerpt from a sermon given by the Pastor Huttala of Saint Urho’s (you can see why I wondered about ethnicity!) that tells the story of Saint Lawrence, the Christian martyr after whom the Saint Lawrence River and the Laurentian Divide were named. The descriptions of the local landscape and climate are as interesting as the characters: “Over at the junior high, ninth graders set oranges outside at lunchtime and an hour later dashed out from shop class to shatter them with hammers. The winter had been a doozy, dangerous even indoors, where it was so dry just walking roused carpet sparks to singe holes in socks.”
It was a pleasure to visit Hatchet Inlet and meet the locals. I wish them well and hope to see them again soon.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an early opportunity to read and review this book.
A well-written story about believable people
Laurentian Divide is about the lives of the people of Hatchet Inlet, a small town in northern Minnesota. The characters and their stories are what drives the book, but it is held together by two plot threads, momentous events in the lives of local characters. The first is the whereabouts of Rauri Paar, a reclusive local landowner who disappears into his remote cabin each fall and emerges in the spring when the ice breaks up. Spring has come (more or less), but no one has seen Rauri, and he does not answer his phone. Concern about him is a big topic at the local diner where the town residents gather, and the other big topic is the upcoming wedding of retired miner Alpo Lahti to a younger woman, Sissy Pavola, who is part-owner and waitress at the diner. There are many detours into the lives of town residents, like Alpo’s son Pete, the local veterinarian, and the people we meet are normal enough to be very believable but interesting enough that I enjoyed getting to know them better. Many of them have problems, as is true in life, but this was not a book where every single person seemed dysfunctional and weighed down by a ton of hurt. There was only one issue that seemed to be tritely ripped from today’s news, and my only hope is that it will not appear again if Stonich writes more about Hatchet Inlet (This is the second book in a trilogy about the town, following Vacationland.). The townsfolk are obviously very fond of their dogs, and you gotta chuckle when you realize that Sissy has a dog named Jeff (a member of the wedding party, who will be giving away the bride) and a fiancé named Alpo! The name Alpo may not be a pun relating to dog food, in this case, however. As I was reading the book I kept trying to identify the ethnicity of the residents when I encountered odd names like Lahti or Rauri Paar, and then I learned the area was settled by many people from Finland, who have names many Americans would not recognize.
When I describe the book as character-driven, I do NOT want to slight the writing! It is beautifully done, vivid and artful without coming across as pretentious. I was intrigued at the opening, which is an excerpt from a sermon given by the Pastor Huttala of Saint Urho’s (you can see why I wondered about ethnicity!) that tells the story of Saint Lawrence, the Christian martyr after whom the Saint Lawrence River and the Laurentian Divide were named. The descriptions of the local landscape and climate are as interesting as the characters: “Over at the junior high, ninth graders set oranges outside at lunchtime and an hour later dashed out from shop class to shatter them with hammers. The winter had been a doozy, dangerous even indoors, where it was so dry just walking roused carpet sparks to singe holes in socks.”
It was a pleasure to visit Hatchet Inlet and meet the locals. I wish them well and hope to see them again soon.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an early opportunity to read and review this book.
A well-written story about believable people
June 25, 2018
When I heard that Sarah Stonich was writing a trilogy to complete the story she began in Vacationland, my heart skipped, because I wasn’t ready to leave Hatchet Inlet. Like every good vacation, you just don’t want it to end.
Laurentian Divide is the second book in the planned trilogy. It’s set for release in September 2018 from the University of Minnesota Press. Laurentian Divide takes up where Vacationland left off. It’s the story of a community burdened by grief but bound by shared values; lives and loves lost and found.
It’s spring in Hatchet Inlet, and after eight months of snow, ice, and bitter cold, the community is ready to celebrate. Widower Alpo Lahti is set to marry his spritely bride Sissy Pavlova, but the celebration is overcast by the unaccounted for Rauri Paar, a hermit who owns the last private track of land in The Reserve, and whose annual trek into town for supplies marks the season opener. With Rauri’s absence, there is speculation – did he take off and abandon his land? Unlikely, since he would forfeit it to The Reserve if he is away from it for more than three months. Is he injured or worse?
Meg reappears in the second volume, still painting, but unhappily married. Alpo’s son Pete is divorced and in recovery, and flirts with the idea of a reunion with Meg, but when Alpo comes clean about his involvement in the end of Pete’s marriage, Pete’s grip on sobriety starts to slide. Pete wrestles with demons from the distant, but not nearly far enough away, past. Like a seasoned log, Stonich knows just where to strike to split your heart in two.
As always, Stonich’s descriptions of the landscape are richly drawn and imbued with the scents, sounds, and sights of the northern Minnesota landscape. She is at the height of her powers in describing a rent in the Divide where Alpo escapes to fish one last time before his wedding: “The cavern opens to a dank bowl of low wetland anchored with hooked cedars. One end of the pool spills down into it, a sheet of water the width of a car. It foams upon impact but settles smooth a few yards into its course. Where the stream meets a boulder, it splits neatly in two to flow in opposite directions.”
Laurentian Divide will be out in September, so there’s plenty of time to read or re-read Vacationland in anticipation of this second luminous volume in Sarah Stonich’s trilogy.
Laurentian Divide is the second book in the planned trilogy. It’s set for release in September 2018 from the University of Minnesota Press. Laurentian Divide takes up where Vacationland left off. It’s the story of a community burdened by grief but bound by shared values; lives and loves lost and found.
It’s spring in Hatchet Inlet, and after eight months of snow, ice, and bitter cold, the community is ready to celebrate. Widower Alpo Lahti is set to marry his spritely bride Sissy Pavlova, but the celebration is overcast by the unaccounted for Rauri Paar, a hermit who owns the last private track of land in The Reserve, and whose annual trek into town for supplies marks the season opener. With Rauri’s absence, there is speculation – did he take off and abandon his land? Unlikely, since he would forfeit it to The Reserve if he is away from it for more than three months. Is he injured or worse?
Meg reappears in the second volume, still painting, but unhappily married. Alpo’s son Pete is divorced and in recovery, and flirts with the idea of a reunion with Meg, but when Alpo comes clean about his involvement in the end of Pete’s marriage, Pete’s grip on sobriety starts to slide. Pete wrestles with demons from the distant, but not nearly far enough away, past. Like a seasoned log, Stonich knows just where to strike to split your heart in two.
As always, Stonich’s descriptions of the landscape are richly drawn and imbued with the scents, sounds, and sights of the northern Minnesota landscape. She is at the height of her powers in describing a rent in the Divide where Alpo escapes to fish one last time before his wedding: “The cavern opens to a dank bowl of low wetland anchored with hooked cedars. One end of the pool spills down into it, a sheet of water the width of a car. It foams upon impact but settles smooth a few yards into its course. Where the stream meets a boulder, it splits neatly in two to flow in opposite directions.”
Laurentian Divide will be out in September, so there’s plenty of time to read or re-read Vacationland in anticipation of this second luminous volume in Sarah Stonich’s trilogy.
July 22, 2019
This was a fantastic continuation of Vacationland, which will go down as one of my top books of the decade. I think it is best read as a sequel, but it really functions as a standalone, in that you are given reminders of who's who and how they fit together. I read it in one day - which is not something I do more than once every five years or so! If that's not enough of a rec, read on -
Stonich does a masterful job with this ensemble cast. No one feels like they get short shrift. Whereas Vacationland circled around Meg, and her orbit, this one involves Sissy and Alpo. There is a wedding, there is the tragic aftermath of another wedding, and there is a lot of mid-life rethinking going on. In a way, each of the main characters is figuratively standing on a precipice, just as they are literally standing on the divide of the continental shelf that switches the way water flows within feet of a streambed.
I love Sissy. She doesn't feel as complicated a person as Meg, although she definitely has got a lot going on. She is more of a WYSIWYG girl. Okay, that's not fair to Meg. But Meg is more reserved about it maybe? I don't know, I love them both.
This book is full of strong women doing what they have to do. In essence, you could call it a collection of family dramas, but it really is more than that. It is about so much more. Appreciating what we've got before it's gone. Moving on when we need to. Grief and its aftermath.
This book is more of a straight novel than Vacationland, which was essentially connected stories. We have some flashbacks here, but they are embedded in the story and not set out as separate pieces. It is just so artfully done and so completely seamless that you don't even care how many POVs there are or how the story loops around and ends up where it does. And that ending? Priceless.
I can foresee that I will be recommending this book for years to come, just as I do with Vacationland.
Fun fact: I was at a writing retreat with Sarah when she was writing the last bits of this book. She wouldn't talk about it but she told me later that I was there at the end. She had an extra room and invited me to come with her, so I tried to buy as much wine as I could. I will forever be grateful to her for including me in her Write On Door County residency! (And that in no way influences this review!)
I received a finished copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
Stonich does a masterful job with this ensemble cast. No one feels like they get short shrift. Whereas Vacationland circled around Meg, and her orbit, this one involves Sissy and Alpo. There is a wedding, there is the tragic aftermath of another wedding, and there is a lot of mid-life rethinking going on. In a way, each of the main characters is figuratively standing on a precipice, just as they are literally standing on the divide of the continental shelf that switches the way water flows within feet of a streambed.
I love Sissy. She doesn't feel as complicated a person as Meg, although she definitely has got a lot going on. She is more of a WYSIWYG girl. Okay, that's not fair to Meg. But Meg is more reserved about it maybe? I don't know, I love them both.
This book is full of strong women doing what they have to do. In essence, you could call it a collection of family dramas, but it really is more than that. It is about so much more. Appreciating what we've got before it's gone. Moving on when we need to. Grief and its aftermath.
This book is more of a straight novel than Vacationland, which was essentially connected stories. We have some flashbacks here, but they are embedded in the story and not set out as separate pieces. It is just so artfully done and so completely seamless that you don't even care how many POVs there are or how the story loops around and ends up where it does. And that ending? Priceless.
I can foresee that I will be recommending this book for years to come, just as I do with Vacationland.
Fun fact: I was at a writing retreat with Sarah when she was writing the last bits of this book. She wouldn't talk about it but she told me later that I was there at the end. She had an extra room and invited me to come with her, so I tried to buy as much wine as I could. I will forever be grateful to her for including me in her Write On Door County residency! (And that in no way influences this review!)
I received a finished copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
October 20, 2018
Sarah Stonich is from Minnesota. Hence, the Laurentian Divide, the setting of this novel, must be The Boundary Waters Canoe Area, a wilderness area in northern Minnesota where motor vehicles are not allowed and Hatchet Inlet, the town featured in the story would probably be Ely, Minnesota, the Gateway to the Boundary Waters.
The novel is a frame story. Rauri Paar, the only remaining private owner in the Laurentian Divide, has not shown up after ice out on the lakes; he's usually a herald of spring. He spends the winter in his cabin on one of his islands, all by his lonesome. The residents of Hatchet Inlet think he's a victim of foul play or a heart attack or whatever. Only one of them, Pete Lahti is worried enough to try to find out what happened to him, and it almost gets him killed.
We don't find out what happened to Rauri until the end of the book, hence the frame. There are two other stories to keep us occupied: Pete's alcoholism (he's recovering) and his father, Alpo (No he wasn't named after the dogfood; he's Finnish) is getting married for the second time to Sissy who runs the local diner with her sister. Alpo is like sixty; Sissy is around forty.
So . . . this novel is really about the people of Hatchet Inlet. Stonich will occasionally throw in a long scene such as the one where she describes Alpo's
favorite fishing hole; the tourists haven't found it yet. Alpo draws a map for his new Kiwi friends from New Zealand. He trusts them to keep it secret. The scene doesn't drive the story, and it doesn't do much to give us a picture of the Laurentian Divide.
There's also a sort of sub plot about Sissy's mother who has Alzheimer's. She has her lucid moments when she can be kind of funny; they take her to Sissy's wedding, which she almost ruins, but she does strike up some surprisingly good harmony with the band at the reception.
I'm also from Minnesota, but I've never been up Nort (that's an intentional mistake) except for Duluth, which is a beautiful city if you've never been. It's the largest fresh water port in America, if not the world. Lake Superior will take your breath away. I was looking forward to a more detailed description of the BWCA; I guess I'll need to look for a non-fiction account.
The novel is a frame story. Rauri Paar, the only remaining private owner in the Laurentian Divide, has not shown up after ice out on the lakes; he's usually a herald of spring. He spends the winter in his cabin on one of his islands, all by his lonesome. The residents of Hatchet Inlet think he's a victim of foul play or a heart attack or whatever. Only one of them, Pete Lahti is worried enough to try to find out what happened to him, and it almost gets him killed.
We don't find out what happened to Rauri until the end of the book, hence the frame. There are two other stories to keep us occupied: Pete's alcoholism (he's recovering) and his father, Alpo (No he wasn't named after the dogfood; he's Finnish) is getting married for the second time to Sissy who runs the local diner with her sister. Alpo is like sixty; Sissy is around forty.
So . . . this novel is really about the people of Hatchet Inlet. Stonich will occasionally throw in a long scene such as the one where she describes Alpo's
favorite fishing hole; the tourists haven't found it yet. Alpo draws a map for his new Kiwi friends from New Zealand. He trusts them to keep it secret. The scene doesn't drive the story, and it doesn't do much to give us a picture of the Laurentian Divide.
There's also a sort of sub plot about Sissy's mother who has Alzheimer's. She has her lucid moments when she can be kind of funny; they take her to Sissy's wedding, which she almost ruins, but she does strike up some surprisingly good harmony with the band at the reception.
I'm also from Minnesota, but I've never been up Nort (that's an intentional mistake) except for Duluth, which is a beautiful city if you've never been. It's the largest fresh water port in America, if not the world. Lake Superior will take your breath away. I was looking forward to a more detailed description of the BWCA; I guess I'll need to look for a non-fiction account.
June 19, 2019
Thank you to the Author Sarah Stonich, the publisher Minnesota Press, and NetGalley for giving me an ARC in I exchange for my candid review.
I believe that I received only the first chapter of this book as an ARC, but it was compelling enough that I purchased the book.
A very quirky, but real look into a small community located in the northern wilds of Minnesota on the edge of a wilderness reservation. The reserve is totally uninhabited with the exception of one man, Rauri, who is grandfathered for his lifetime as long as he does not leave it for longer than one month.
The book opens with the town wanting to know the exact date that the ice melted in the waterways. But the only person who is deemed worthy to judge the date is Rauri, as he is locked onto his island until the ice thaws. But where is Rauri? He is late and everyone starts to speculate about where he is. Is is wounded and alone on the island? Is he dead? But who should go out there and see?
There is an upcoming wedding, the aftermath of a tragedy, and many realistic life challenges that unfold in this book.. It is a compelling read and show true insight into the challenges and demons that can affect people's lives. And it tells about how we don't always make the right decision about our loved ones.
The characters are quirky and real and the interaction of the small town, which at any one time can be annoying and intrusive and yet endearing and tender.
This is a compelling read and well worth it. Congratulations to Sarah Stonich for writing a wonderful book.
I believe that I received only the first chapter of this book as an ARC, but it was compelling enough that I purchased the book.
A very quirky, but real look into a small community located in the northern wilds of Minnesota on the edge of a wilderness reservation. The reserve is totally uninhabited with the exception of one man, Rauri, who is grandfathered for his lifetime as long as he does not leave it for longer than one month.
The book opens with the town wanting to know the exact date that the ice melted in the waterways. But the only person who is deemed worthy to judge the date is Rauri, as he is locked onto his island until the ice thaws. But where is Rauri? He is late and everyone starts to speculate about where he is. Is is wounded and alone on the island? Is he dead? But who should go out there and see?
There is an upcoming wedding, the aftermath of a tragedy, and many realistic life challenges that unfold in this book.. It is a compelling read and show true insight into the challenges and demons that can affect people's lives. And it tells about how we don't always make the right decision about our loved ones.
The characters are quirky and real and the interaction of the small town, which at any one time can be annoying and intrusive and yet endearing and tender.
This is a compelling read and well worth it. Congratulations to Sarah Stonich for writing a wonderful book.
November 4, 2018
Thanks to BookishFirst and University of Minnesota Press for a free copy of this book for review.
Sarah Stonich has crafted a vivid small town in Hatchet Inlet, the rural Minnesota setting for this quiet, melancholy story. It's told from several perspectives from connected individuals who, while happy and approaching new personal joys- Pete is relatively newly sober, and his widowed father Alpo is about to marry Sissy- are still dealing with personal grieving, as well as some collective town sadness, as well as speculation about the whereabouts of a somewhat reclusive local.
The story picks up a great deal in the second half, but the first half felt very slow. Part of this may be due to the fact that this is the second book of a series and I haven't read the first, so perhaps those who are already familiar with the characters or town would feel more invested at the beginning. However, the last chapters and ending were satisfying and moving. Recommended for those who appreciate literary small town stories.
Sarah Stonich has crafted a vivid small town in Hatchet Inlet, the rural Minnesota setting for this quiet, melancholy story. It's told from several perspectives from connected individuals who, while happy and approaching new personal joys- Pete is relatively newly sober, and his widowed father Alpo is about to marry Sissy- are still dealing with personal grieving, as well as some collective town sadness, as well as speculation about the whereabouts of a somewhat reclusive local.
The story picks up a great deal in the second half, but the first half felt very slow. Part of this may be due to the fact that this is the second book of a series and I haven't read the first, so perhaps those who are already familiar with the characters or town would feel more invested at the beginning. However, the last chapters and ending were satisfying and moving. Recommended for those who appreciate literary small town stories.
October 8, 2018
I won this book through a BookishFirst giveaway.
Not many books have such rich settings and well-fleshed characters to make their worlds feel so present and real, but I truly feel like I spent the past five days in Hatchet Inlet. It's not even a real place, but I've been there; I've felt the cold and seen the views and eaten the food, and I've gotten to know the people and all their lovable quirks. This book didn't quite turn out to be the book I was expecting, as I thought there would be more focus on Rauri's disappearance, and less on the other characters' inner lives, but that wasn't a negative—I cared about the three main characters a lot, and was fiercely rooting for them. I'd say the only drawback was that the alternating POVs slowed things down a bit, but that didn't stop me from being thoroughly absorbed by the story. I really enjoyed this one.
Not many books have such rich settings and well-fleshed characters to make their worlds feel so present and real, but I truly feel like I spent the past five days in Hatchet Inlet. It's not even a real place, but I've been there; I've felt the cold and seen the views and eaten the food, and I've gotten to know the people and all their lovable quirks. This book didn't quite turn out to be the book I was expecting, as I thought there would be more focus on Rauri's disappearance, and less on the other characters' inner lives, but that wasn't a negative—I cared about the three main characters a lot, and was fiercely rooting for them. I'd say the only drawback was that the alternating POVs slowed things down a bit, but that didn't stop me from being thoroughly absorbed by the story. I really enjoyed this one.
October 23, 2018
If you’re looking for big-time action adventure — this is not your book.
If you're looking for a plot twist with a cliffhanger ending — this is not your book.
But... if you're looking for a well-written, quirky story with oddly unique characters then this IS your book!
Laurentian Divide by Sarah Stonich is the second book in the Northern Trilogy. I suppose you can read this book as a stand-alone, but I would highly recommend reading Vacationland, the first in the series, before diving into this one. A number of the characters and events from the first book are referenced in this novel and, honestly, it would just make for a better reading experience.
If you read this book and really end up enjoying it, I would also recommend checking out Virgil Wander by Leif Enger. Happy reading and enjoy!
If you're looking for a plot twist with a cliffhanger ending — this is not your book.
But... if you're looking for a well-written, quirky story with oddly unique characters then this IS your book!
Laurentian Divide by Sarah Stonich is the second book in the Northern Trilogy. I suppose you can read this book as a stand-alone, but I would highly recommend reading Vacationland, the first in the series, before diving into this one. A number of the characters and events from the first book are referenced in this novel and, honestly, it would just make for a better reading experience.
If you read this book and really end up enjoying it, I would also recommend checking out Virgil Wander by Leif Enger. Happy reading and enjoy!
September 3, 2018
I think Sarah Stonich succeeded in writing both a colorful, funny, sweet story firmly rooted in Northern MN culture, heritage and politics, but also a thoughtful family drama on grief, remorse, and our endless attempts and failures at being good people. Hurrah!
Sissy Pavola is a character I’d like to become friends with.
I’ll be able to sell this to visitors to Northern MN who want “a book that takes place up here” but also know that I’m giving them a solid novel that stands on its own. The pro-environmental sentiment doesn’t hurt either.
Sissy Pavola is a character I’d like to become friends with.
I’ll be able to sell this to visitors to Northern MN who want “a book that takes place up here” but also know that I’m giving them a solid novel that stands on its own. The pro-environmental sentiment doesn’t hurt either.
August 10, 2020
Sarah Stonich writes engaging and entertaining stories about the Arrowhead region of Minnesota. Her books are both funny and poignant, full of characters that are recognizable and very human. I grew up in the area, and she nails the taciturn, self-deprecating people who live there. Laurentian Divide is the second book of her Northern Trilogy, sharing many of the same characters from book one, Vacationland. Check out the series if you've ever wondered who's crazy enough to live in northern Minnesota and how they both survive and thrive there.
December 10, 2018
I grew up near this make believe town or someplace like it. Sarah Stonich's stories about rural Minnesota cabin towns is spot on. The tension between townies and summer people is well depicted. I know these people, I just did not know their story. It is a lovely read about relationships. I laughed. I cried. It's a good story.
May 25, 2019
Stonich's book recalled my winter trips to Bemidji, Minnesota. She really captures the personalities and the lives of the small town inhabitants who live at the edge of the US. When a local hermit doesn't turn up in the spring, the town is a buzz in speculation.
July 13, 2019
I found this book to be vividly drawn and a good read. A longer review appears at www.cloquetriverpress.com.
Peace.
Mark
Peace.
Mark
August 9, 2022
I didn’t want this to end and I can’t wait to read the third book in this Northern Minnesota-based trilogy when it’s published. This is one of my favorite kind of books where both the setting and the characters are equally wonderful. A worthy followup to the first — Vacationland— which I loved a wee bit more. You could read this one on it’s own, but I’d suggest read Vacationland first.
December 8, 2018
Maybe 3.5. I have mixed feelings. There was a lot I liked about this book, especially the characters. But SO MUCH BACKSTORY. We'd have a tense scene in the present, and suddenly get dumped into a memory of years before. And the ending was just a little too neat.
August 19, 2024
Wonderful storyline, well-rounded characters, perfect resolution. Stonich's book is a treasure.
February 11, 2019
Laurentian Divide
By Sarah Stonich Unniversity of Minnesota Press
Publication date 9/18/2018
Synopsis
Bitter winters are nothing new in Hatchet Inlet, hard up against the ridge of the Laurentian Divide, but the advent of spring can’t thaw the community’s collective grief, lingering since a senseless tragedy the previous fall. What is different this year is what’s missing: Rauri Paar, the last private landowner in the Reserve, whose annual emergence from his remote iced-in islands marks the beginning of spring and the promise of a kinder season.
The town’s residents gather at the local diner and, amid talk of spring weather, the latest gossip, roadkill, and the daily special, take bets on when Rauri will appear—or imagine what happened to him during the long and brutal winter. Retired union miner and widower Alpo Lahti is about to wed the diner’s charming and lively waitress, Sissy Pavola, but, with Rauri still unaccounted for, celebration seems premature. Alpo’s son Pete struggles to find his straight and narrow, then struggles to stay on it, and even Sissy might be having second thoughts.
What I liked;
Ugh; this is the most mundane synopsis, and I have no idea why the publisher is trying to push this as a romance novel, or even a rom com. They are a University Press..at the very least state that her prose is much like Steinbeck who states much about the human condition ; who took a town and analyized what made it tick and move and function.
“We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the neverending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is.”
― John Steinbeck, East of Eden
Sarah Stonich took one character in the wilds of Minnesota; one that had become the legend of the town, but he was a significant piece of the function of the town; they measured their own lives by how Rauri lived off his land and did not need material things; he had the nature and the animals to get him through . He didn't kill he held value to life and all that lived in his preserve. Each member of that town was proud of him sticking to his own sensibilities, his own code it reafifrmed their own measure of success, and that love and friendship was so much more important than material possesions. While Rauri was out in his preserve, living to his own device their world did not need to be measured by Wall Street . Everyone had a Rauri fable, everyone had been touched by his thoughts and actions. The descriptions and characters were rich , and almost poetic.
Why it was not a five.
It was almost that her editor told her to be more comercial, and that is why the ending Rauri returned the way he did. I did not like the ending , it was like ripping the bandaid off and the lie that it wouldn't hurt, or the fact there is no Santa Claus. Rauri was what was pure and untamed , and with the end of that era, I shut the book with a sigh.
I was very happy to get the finished copy of Laurentian Divide I thank Bookish First and Unniversity of Minnesota Press for the opportunity to read this author, I never read another writer that reminded me why I liked Cannery Row. She should continue to be brave and write like that.
By Sarah Stonich Unniversity of Minnesota Press
Publication date 9/18/2018
Synopsis
Bitter winters are nothing new in Hatchet Inlet, hard up against the ridge of the Laurentian Divide, but the advent of spring can’t thaw the community’s collective grief, lingering since a senseless tragedy the previous fall. What is different this year is what’s missing: Rauri Paar, the last private landowner in the Reserve, whose annual emergence from his remote iced-in islands marks the beginning of spring and the promise of a kinder season.
The town’s residents gather at the local diner and, amid talk of spring weather, the latest gossip, roadkill, and the daily special, take bets on when Rauri will appear—or imagine what happened to him during the long and brutal winter. Retired union miner and widower Alpo Lahti is about to wed the diner’s charming and lively waitress, Sissy Pavola, but, with Rauri still unaccounted for, celebration seems premature. Alpo’s son Pete struggles to find his straight and narrow, then struggles to stay on it, and even Sissy might be having second thoughts.
What I liked;
Ugh; this is the most mundane synopsis, and I have no idea why the publisher is trying to push this as a romance novel, or even a rom com. They are a University Press..at the very least state that her prose is much like Steinbeck who states much about the human condition ; who took a town and analyized what made it tick and move and function.
“We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the neverending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is.”
― John Steinbeck, East of Eden
Sarah Stonich took one character in the wilds of Minnesota; one that had become the legend of the town, but he was a significant piece of the function of the town; they measured their own lives by how Rauri lived off his land and did not need material things; he had the nature and the animals to get him through . He didn't kill he held value to life and all that lived in his preserve. Each member of that town was proud of him sticking to his own sensibilities, his own code it reafifrmed their own measure of success, and that love and friendship was so much more important than material possesions. While Rauri was out in his preserve, living to his own device their world did not need to be measured by Wall Street . Everyone had a Rauri fable, everyone had been touched by his thoughts and actions. The descriptions and characters were rich , and almost poetic.
Why it was not a five.
It was almost that her editor told her to be more comercial, and that is why the ending Rauri returned the way he did. I did not like the ending , it was like ripping the bandaid off and the lie that it wouldn't hurt, or the fact there is no Santa Claus. Rauri was what was pure and untamed , and with the end of that era, I shut the book with a sigh.
I was very happy to get the finished copy of Laurentian Divide I thank Bookish First and Unniversity of Minnesota Press for the opportunity to read this author, I never read another writer that reminded me why I liked Cannery Row. She should continue to be brave and write like that.
October 27, 2018
From the first page, Laurentian Divide was a delight to read. Immediately, I felt a connection to the town of Hatchet Inlet and the characters that weave in and out of each other's lives in the small Minnesota town near the Canadian border. In the book, Sissy and widower Alpo, twenty years her senior, prepare for their upcoming wedding. The town needs a celebration after a tragedy the fall before that rocked the community. Tragedy threatens the town again when Rauri Paar, the last private landowner in the Laurentian Reserve, fails to make his annual appearance at the beginning of spring. Pete, Alpo's son, a recovering alcoholic, navigates his own minefield trying to stay sober.
Stonich writes beautifully, and she expertly creates a millieu believable and sympathetic. With good-natured humor and an appreciation for the foibles of Hatchet Inlet's residents, she compellingly sketches themes surrounding trust, secrets, and forgiveness. Sissy, who has always worked at her family's diner, questions her calling and attacks the future with determined persistence. Alpo, who was exempt from the Vietnam War due to his employment in a vital war industry, struggles to justify his dispensation. Peter, who has left a trail of devastation in his wake, must learn to live in a society with constant temptation.
The Laurentian Reserve, a million acres of wilderness, and a site of peace and renewal, provides the backdrop to the story, and a history of forty-years of conflict over land use represents a microcosm of environmental debates, and I like to think comes down on the side of protecting the land for future generations. One of my favorite aspects of the novel is the ubiquity of dogs and their presence as family members, exhibited most charmingly, by Jeff, Sissy's dog, and in her mind, the most handsome man in town.
In Laurentian Divide, even the most peripheral characters matter, even if they don't realize it, and are bound to the community. Their absence matters, and key events reverberate through the residents. Despite the challenges, they remain interconnected, and the novel concludes on a hopeful note.
When I was reading the book, it reminded me of Richard Russo, who also so skillfully renders small town living, and it wasn't too surprising to me to later see that he had provided an endorsement for Laurentian Divide. It was truly a book I was sorry to finish. I didn't want to leave the people of Hatchet Inlet.
Luckily for me, this is the second in a planned trilogy centered on the denizens of the area. I have not read the first, Vacationland, though I plan to, and I eagerly await the third.
Author's Website
Thanks to Netgalley and the University of Minnesota Press for providing an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.
Stonich writes beautifully, and she expertly creates a millieu believable and sympathetic. With good-natured humor and an appreciation for the foibles of Hatchet Inlet's residents, she compellingly sketches themes surrounding trust, secrets, and forgiveness. Sissy, who has always worked at her family's diner, questions her calling and attacks the future with determined persistence. Alpo, who was exempt from the Vietnam War due to his employment in a vital war industry, struggles to justify his dispensation. Peter, who has left a trail of devastation in his wake, must learn to live in a society with constant temptation.
The Laurentian Reserve, a million acres of wilderness, and a site of peace and renewal, provides the backdrop to the story, and a history of forty-years of conflict over land use represents a microcosm of environmental debates, and I like to think comes down on the side of protecting the land for future generations. One of my favorite aspects of the novel is the ubiquity of dogs and their presence as family members, exhibited most charmingly, by Jeff, Sissy's dog, and in her mind, the most handsome man in town.
In Laurentian Divide, even the most peripheral characters matter, even if they don't realize it, and are bound to the community. Their absence matters, and key events reverberate through the residents. Despite the challenges, they remain interconnected, and the novel concludes on a hopeful note.
When I was reading the book, it reminded me of Richard Russo, who also so skillfully renders small town living, and it wasn't too surprising to me to later see that he had provided an endorsement for Laurentian Divide. It was truly a book I was sorry to finish. I didn't want to leave the people of Hatchet Inlet.
Luckily for me, this is the second in a planned trilogy centered on the denizens of the area. I have not read the first, Vacationland, though I plan to, and I eagerly await the third.
Author's Website
Thanks to Netgalley and the University of Minnesota Press for providing an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.
Read
December 28, 2020Book two - doesn't pick right up with the main character(s) of Vacationland - they are all still there just not the focus - you get to meet and get involved with some of the minor characters from the first book and learn their back stories and delve into what makes them tick. She "paints" with her words and you feel you could drive north and actually find these places. Fun adventure up north - waiting for the last book in the series "Watershed"
September 1, 2018
This is one of those books you find a comfortable chair, sit back, relax and take a journey with citizens of a small town in rural Hatchet Inlet. The town is preparing for the wedding of Sissy and Alpo, we have Sissy’s mother, who is an absolute hoot, unfortunately she has Alzheimer’s but she brings light for Sissy and her sister. We start with Sissy, she has many things going on and she’s not quite sure who she really is. We have Alpo, not sure how old Alpo is, he is a bit older than Sissy, but he’s pretty spry for his age. Then we have Pete, the son of Alpo who has had a drinking problem, but turns out to be a pretty good vet and then a mish mash of other memorable characters that add to the enjoyment. The book goes between multiple people describing their thoughts and actions, past and present. I personally enjoy this type of book. I loved Sissy’s mother, and I smiled, really smiled and chuckled at the ending. A perfect way to end a story. There were many places in the book that deserved a big smile and chuckle.
We learn of the trials and tribulations of living long winters, in a remote area sometimes only accessible by snow mobiles or everyone hunkers down until spring comes along. The author has a wonderful way of describing the scenes, the café filled with morning coffee drinkers, you could almost hear the hustle and bustle in there and the town gossip, plus you can envision Pete and Duke getting in his canoe for just a few examples.
I am giving this one 5*****’s. It’ not a mystery book, other than looking for Rauri, and there is not a lot of suspense, nor is it based on a true story, this is just a feel good, down to earth read with wonderful characters. My kindle read this book to me via Bluetooth and it was hard to stop listening and have to do something else, like work.
I am so glad I was given the opportunity to receive this book from University of Minnesota Press through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. This one gets a high 5*****’s.
We learn of the trials and tribulations of living long winters, in a remote area sometimes only accessible by snow mobiles or everyone hunkers down until spring comes along. The author has a wonderful way of describing the scenes, the café filled with morning coffee drinkers, you could almost hear the hustle and bustle in there and the town gossip, plus you can envision Pete and Duke getting in his canoe for just a few examples.
I am giving this one 5*****’s. It’ not a mystery book, other than looking for Rauri, and there is not a lot of suspense, nor is it based on a true story, this is just a feel good, down to earth read with wonderful characters. My kindle read this book to me via Bluetooth and it was hard to stop listening and have to do something else, like work.
I am so glad I was given the opportunity to receive this book from University of Minnesota Press through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. This one gets a high 5*****’s.
September 15, 2018
This book is amazing! It has everything, but especially is rich in wonderful characters who are just beginning to come out of winter. In the Minnesota town of Hatchet Inlet which has terrible winters, it is situated at end of the wilderness in a place known as Laurentian Divide.
As spring ensues, the town comes back to life with most everyone there having lived their whole lives.
At the restaurant known as Pavola's, everyone is talking about Rauri Parr who is the last landowner in the reserve and who they think has gone missing. He lives out on an island and they only see him in spring and summer and then he goes back to his island for the harsh winters. Everyone gauges everything by Rauri's appearance at the first sign of spring when all the ice is melting in the river and he is able to get there.
This book has so many good characters in it like Sissy, who has worked at the restaurant since she was young and now is getting married for the first time in her life and she is in her 40's. Her sister works there, Pete the veterinarian, and his father Alpo are there, along with a whole list of characters. Sissy is marrying Pete's father Alpo, and they are quite concerned where Rauri may be.
This book is rich in not only characters, but tales of things that may be in the past but kept alive by the characters. We get a glimpse into all these people, as the plot rolls on and their lives and problems. It is a great story and I loved reading about Laurentian Divide, the past and the present and the future of these people. the ending of this book is great, but I will say no more, but like the book itself so many unexpected things happen that will endear you to this group of people.
I gave this book 5 stars and Sarah Stonich is now on my list of must read authors!
As spring ensues, the town comes back to life with most everyone there having lived their whole lives.
At the restaurant known as Pavola's, everyone is talking about Rauri Parr who is the last landowner in the reserve and who they think has gone missing. He lives out on an island and they only see him in spring and summer and then he goes back to his island for the harsh winters. Everyone gauges everything by Rauri's appearance at the first sign of spring when all the ice is melting in the river and he is able to get there.
This book has so many good characters in it like Sissy, who has worked at the restaurant since she was young and now is getting married for the first time in her life and she is in her 40's. Her sister works there, Pete the veterinarian, and his father Alpo are there, along with a whole list of characters. Sissy is marrying Pete's father Alpo, and they are quite concerned where Rauri may be.
This book is rich in not only characters, but tales of things that may be in the past but kept alive by the characters. We get a glimpse into all these people, as the plot rolls on and their lives and problems. It is a great story and I loved reading about Laurentian Divide, the past and the present and the future of these people. the ending of this book is great, but I will say no more, but like the book itself so many unexpected things happen that will endear you to this group of people.
I gave this book 5 stars and Sarah Stonich is now on my list of must read authors!
October 8, 2019
A wonderful book about northern Minnesota people by a Minnesota author. The characters are out of my life, as is the geography, the dialects, the especially my Finnish Heritage. I highly recommend you try it.
Winner of the 2019 Minnesota Book Award for Novel & Short Story
Poignant portrayals of life on the edge in northern Minnesota border country, from the best-selling author of These Granite Islands and Vacationland
Bitter winters are nothing new in Hatchet Inlet, hard up against the ridge of the Laurentian Divide, but the advent of spring can’t thaw the community’s collective grief, lingering since a senseless tragedy the previous fall. What is different this year is what’s missing: Rauri Paar, the last private landowner in the Reserve, whose annual emergence from his remote iced-in islands marks the beginning of spring and the promise of a kinder season.
The town’s residents gather at the local diner and, amid talk of spring weather, the latest gossip, roadkill, and the daily special, take bets on when Rauri will appear—or imagine what happened to him during the long and brutal winter. Retired union miner and widower Alpo Lahti is about to wed the diner’s charming and lively waitress, Sissy Pavola, but, with Rauri still unaccounted for, celebration seems premature. Alpo’s son Pete struggles to find his straight and narrow, then struggles to stay on it, and even Sissy might be having second thoughts.
Weaving in and out of each other’s reach, trying hard to do their best (all the while wondering what that might be), the residents of this remote town in all their sweetness and sorrow remind us once more of the inescapable lurches of the heart and unexpected turns of our human comedy.
Winner of the 2019 Minnesota Book Award for Novel & Short Story
Poignant portrayals of life on the edge in northern Minnesota border country, from the best-selling author of These Granite Islands and Vacationland
Bitter winters are nothing new in Hatchet Inlet, hard up against the ridge of the Laurentian Divide, but the advent of spring can’t thaw the community’s collective grief, lingering since a senseless tragedy the previous fall. What is different this year is what’s missing: Rauri Paar, the last private landowner in the Reserve, whose annual emergence from his remote iced-in islands marks the beginning of spring and the promise of a kinder season.
The town’s residents gather at the local diner and, amid talk of spring weather, the latest gossip, roadkill, and the daily special, take bets on when Rauri will appear—or imagine what happened to him during the long and brutal winter. Retired union miner and widower Alpo Lahti is about to wed the diner’s charming and lively waitress, Sissy Pavola, but, with Rauri still unaccounted for, celebration seems premature. Alpo’s son Pete struggles to find his straight and narrow, then struggles to stay on it, and even Sissy might be having second thoughts.
Weaving in and out of each other’s reach, trying hard to do their best (all the while wondering what that might be), the residents of this remote town in all their sweetness and sorrow remind us once more of the inescapable lurches of the heart and unexpected turns of our human comedy.
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