Across the Great Lake
Format:Paperback
Publisher:University of Wisconsin Press
Published:30th Mar '20
Should be back in stock very soon
In the brutally cold winter of 1936, as his wife lies dying, Henrik Halvorsen takes their daughter with him on a perilous journey. Captain of the coal-fired Manitou, he is charged with transporting railroad cars across an icy Lake Michigan. Five-year-old Fern revels in the freedom of the ferry, making friends with a stowaway cat and a gentle young deckhand, before the sighting of a ghostly ship presages danger for all aboard. Eight decades later, Fern reflects on the dark secret she has kept since that ill-fated voyage.
One of the most intensely written and beautifully conceived novels to come my way in many a season. It is also among the most gripping, and it maintains its hold until the final period—and even beyond. I will be thinking about these characters for a long, long time. Seldom have I read a story with so much life on every page. Zacharias is a master." - Steve Yarbrough, author of The Unmade World "Lee Zacharias is one of those profoundly rare writers, a natural. Her voice is one you can trust, and her characters are real, moving, and come from the experience of someone who knows what trouble human beings get themselves into." - Craig Nova, author of The Good Son
"Exquisite. . . . A wise book, written with uncommon care. Not unlike the great lake of its title, this story has much to discover beneath its surface." - Greensboro News & Record
"Zacharias has brought history to the page with great skill." - Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Paints a vivid picture of the tumultuous winter conditions that impede travel and provides poetic details of daily life on board the huge ship and all its mechanics." - Shepherd Express
"Such a palpable sense of how sharp and how painful childhood memories can be. Zacharias takes us back, in more ways than one." - Wilmington Star News
"Simply put, this is an extraordinary novel." - Michigan in Books
"Hauntingly good. . . . Beautifully crafted." - YES! Weekly
ISBN: 9780299320942
Dimensions: 216mm x 140mm x 15mm
Weight: 299g
248 pages