Midwest Stories

Peace Like a River   by Leif Enger
The quiet 1960s Midwestern life of the Land family – father Jeremiah and children Reuben, Davy and Swede – is upended when Davy kills two teenage boys who have come to harm the family. On the morning of his sentencing, Davy escapes from his cell, and the Lands set out in search of him. Their search is at once a heroic quest, a tragedy, a love story and a haunting meditation on the possibility of miracles.

The Corrections  by Jonathan Franzen
After almost 50 years as a wife and mother, Enid Lambert is ready to have some fun. Unfortunately, her husband, Alfred, is losing his sanity to Parkinson's disease, and their children have long since flown the family nest to the catastrophes of their own lives. Desperate for some pleasure to look forward to, Enid has set her heart on an elusive goal: bringing her family together for one last Christmas at home.

A Map of the World  by Jane Hamilton
Alice Goodwin lives on a farm in Wisconsin with her husband and daughters and works part time at the local school as a nurse. When a friend and neighbor leaves her two-year-old daughter in Alice's care, a moment's inattention leads to the child's death. This singularly tragic event triggers a series of other occurrences that will rock the tiny community where Alice lives and undermine everything Alice holds dear.

The Honk and Holler Opening Soon   by Billie Letts
The neon sign had seemed appropriate when the Honk and Holler Opening Soon was being built. But 12 years later, the once-busy highway outside Sequoyah, Oklahoma, is little traveled, and "opening soon" is a tired joke. Today the sign is as battered and beaten as the cafe and its owner Caney Paxton, a Vietnam War veteran who hasn't ventured outside since its opening. A story that crackles and sizzles like burgers on a red-hot grill, The Honk and Holler Opening Soon captures a small town's prejudice and tolerance, violence and big-heartedness. It convinces us that dark clouds can really have silver linings. And it leaves us hungry for more writing from Billie Letts and the Oklahoma she portrays with so much vitality and love.

The Ice Harvest by Scott Phillips
Everywhere you look, trashy people are doing trashy things in this darkly delicious debut comic thriller. Set in the middle of a Christmas Eve blizzard in 1979 Wichita, the novel opens with lawyer-turned-petty-mobster Charlie Arglist marking time before an important meeting with his shady partner, Vic Cavanaugh. After this meeting he plans to leave Wichita hurriedly with a load of cash and, presumably, the enmity of its rightful owner, Bill Gerard, the local head of a larger regional crime syndicate.

A Thousand Acres  by Jane Smiley
Aging Larry Cook announces his intention to turn over his 1,000-acre farm – one of the largest in Zebulon County, Iowa – to his three daughters, Caroline, Ginny and Rose. A man of harsh sensibilities, he carves Caroline out of the deal because she has the nerve to be less than enthusiastic about her father's generosity. While Cook deteriorates into a pathetic drunk, his daughters are left to cope with the grim realities of farm life.

A Simple Plan  by Scott Smith
Hank Mitchell and his brother find four million dollars in a downed plane in the woods. With no idea who it belongs to, they decide to keep it and share it. Unfortunately, things aren't quite as simple as they originally thought, and events careen out of control and into murder.