Just recently, when the lovely smell of rain finally retuned and the nights began to require a heavier blanket, I started to recognize the Michigan of my childhood. The previous sun soaked, nearly bone dry, 12 weeks were glorious mind you, and I enjoyed every beach bathing, dive off the dock, thank whatever higher power you believe in moment of it, but it sure didn’t remind me of the Michigan I remembered.
The turn in weather and tree color though, brought forth a
nostalgia and love of this great state that led me to grab a book off
of the 2012 Michigan Notable Books list created by the Library of Michigan.
Ellen Airgood’s debut novel “South of
Superior,” introduces us to engaged thirty
something Madeline Stone. Madeline promptly decides to leave her unsatisfying
Chicago life behind to both care for an elderly family friend and seek out the
story of her difficult past on the bleak but beautiful shores of Lake Superior
in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Of
course, life in the gritty small town presents a wealth of challenges
including the
daily struggles of a community where the past, present, and future do not always come together smoothly and where a car accident or fire can
shape the entirety of the town. True to small town life, these challenges are though, well balanced by community, kindness, and compassion.
And
indeed, it is Airgood's vivid and emotional portrayal of the
individuals that exist within just such a tough love community that is the driving
force behind her tale. Drawn from interviews of actual residents of
Grand Marais where she runs a diner with her husband, Airgood's debut may be unsophisticated, but what it has to teach, surely isn't.
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