This Tender Land
William Kent Krueger

Sally recently read an advance copy of This Tender Land. Here’s her review of it:

Krueger has stepped away from the Cork O’Connor series to give us an adventure story set in 1932, during the Great Depression. Four years before the book begins, orphans Odie and Albert O’Banion had been sent to Lincoln School, an Indian Boarding School in Minnesota. (In a dark chapter in American history, the U.S. government attempted to assimilate Native American children by separating them from their families, culture, language, and religion and ‘educating’ them in boarding schools. Life in these schools was grim, and children were subject to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.) Odie was initially timid, but four years at Lincoln School formed him into a rebellious 12-year old. After a shattering encounter with a sadistic staff member Odie, Albert, their friend Mose, and Emmy, a little girl who had just been orphaned, ran away. They started down the river in a canoe which had belonged to Emmy’s father, heading for the Mississippi River and a place to call home.

Over the summer, the children made an epic journey, reminiscent of Huck Finn’s raft trip down the Mississippi. The travelers, who called themselves the Vagabond, lived by their wits as they encountered a variety of people and situations, including an itinerant group of faith healers, residents of a Hooverville, and tugboat operators.

As an old man, Odie recounts the story of their journey, recalling it as a formative experience in each of their lives.

Although the stories are unrelated, Krueger calls This Tender Land a companion to his earlier book, Ordinary Grace.

The book will be released September 3; we are accepting pre-orders now. In a scheduling quirk, Krueger will be at Beagle and Wolf on August 29 for a signing—yes, before the release date for the book. We will have copies of the book available that day.

William Kent Krueger during a visit
to the store last September.

Nothing More Dangerous
Allen Eskens

Allen Esken’s new book, Nothing More Dangerous, will be released in November. That’s a long way out, but spending a week with Allen during his tour of the libraries in the Kitchigami system whetted our appetites for another book by him! Nothing More Dangerous is a coming of age story, centered on Boady Sanden, a minor character in The Life We Bury. Click on the book cover to read the publisher’s description of the book.