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Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-57131-094-1
Pages: 288
Publish Date: February 2012
Genre: Fiction
The Long-Shining Waters
BY Danielle Sosin
Frigid, lethal, and wildly beautiful, Lake Superior is as alluring as it is dangerous. Featuring three women living on its shores in three different centuries, Danielle Sosin’s debut novel illuminates the mysterious powers of the greatest of the Great Lakes.
The Long-Shining Waters begins in 1622. Grey Rabbit—an Ojibwe woman, a mother and wife—struggles to understand a dream-life that takes on fearful dimensions. Berit and Gunnar, a Norwegian couple, fish the North Shore in 1902. Though the lake anchors Berit’s isolated life, those same waters ultimately test her endurance and spirit. And then in 2000, Nora, a seasoned bar owner, finds her life unraveling and is drawn into a journey around the lake. As these narratives unfold with the mesmerizing rhythm of waves, a fourth mysterious voice slowly manifests.
Haunting, rich in historical detail, and universal in its exploration of the human desire for meaning when faced with uncertainty and the indomitable power of place, this is an unforgettable work of fiction, by an author whose writing effortlessly “captures unexpected moments of beauty and clarity” (New York Times Book Review).
BEYOND THE BOOK
• Learn a little more about the book from the mouth of the author herself. Read this insightful Q&A with Danielle Sosin.
• Reading The Long-Shining Waters for a book club? Keep the discussion lively with this Reading Group Guide.
• Listen to Minnesota Public Radio’s feature on The Long-Shining Waters:
“You don’t see writing like this often, so infused with an intimate relationship to nature, certainly not in debut novels.”
“A truly inspiring and ambitious work of fiction. Haunting in its depiction of the life of its characters, The Long-Shining Waters is a wonderful book. I loved it.”
—Nuruddin Farah, author of Knots and Links
“Danielle Sosin has written the first great novel about Lake Superior—and its many ghosts.”
“Sosin captures the majesty of a Great Lake I’ve never seen in all it’s dark storminess. The four interwoven narratives become a poetic chorus, stretching back through history, reinforcing the notion that the lake was here before us and will be around after us too. Great for book clubs.”
—Daniel Goldin, Boswell Book Co., Milwaukee, WI
