Laurentian Divide

A Novel

2019
•
Author:

Sarah Stonich

Poignant portrayals of life on the edge in northern Minnesota border country—now in paper

Bitter winters are nothing new in Hatchet Inlet, hard up against the ridge of the Laurentian Divide, but the advent of spring can’t thaw the community’s collective grief, lingering since a senseless tragedy the previous fall. Weaving in and out of each other’s reach, trying hard to do their best (all the while wondering what that might be), the residents of this remote town in all their sweetness and sorrow remind us once more of the inescapable lurches of the heart and unexpected turns of our human comedy.

"Hilarious, smart, moving, and kind, Laurentian Divide is good for the soul, or anyway, it was good for mine."—Richard Russo

Bitter winters are nothing new in Hatchet Inlet, hard up against the ridge of the Laurentian Divide, but the advent of spring can’t thaw the community’s collective grief, lingering since a senseless tragedy the previous fall. What is different this year is what’s missing: Rauri Paar, the last private landowner in the Reserve, whose annual emergence from his remote iced-in islands marks the beginning of spring and the promise of a kinder season.

The town’s residents gather at the local diner and, amid talk of spring weather, the latest gossip, roadkill, and the daily special, take bets on when Rauri will appear—or imagine what happened to him during the long and brutal winter. Retired union miner and widower Alpo Lahti is about to wed the diner’s charming and lively waitress, Sissy Pavola, but, with Rauri still unaccounted for, celebration seems premature. Alpo’s son Pete struggles to find his straight and narrow, then struggles to stay on it, and even Sissy might be having second thoughts.

Weaving in and out of each other’s reach, trying hard to do their best (all the while wondering what that might be), the residents of this remote town in all their sweetness and sorrow remind us once more of the inescapable lurches of the heart and unexpected turns of our human comedy.

Awards

Honoree - Society of Midland Authors Literary Award for Adult Fiction

Minnesota Book Award for Novel & Short Story

Northeastern Minnesota Book Award for Fiction

National Reading Group Month’s Great Group Reads 2019 Selection

Sarah Stonich is the best-selling author of These Granite Islands (Minnesota, 2013), which has been translated into seven languages and shortlisted for France’s Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle; the critically acclaimed novel The Ice Chorus; and a memoir, Shelter: Off the Grid in the Mostly Magnetic North (Minnesota, 2017). Her novel-in-stories, Vacationland (Minnesota, 2013), is the first volume in her Northern Trilogy, followed by Laurentian Divide. She has also written the novels Fishing! (Minnesota, 2020) and Reeling (Minnesota, 2021). The founder of WordStalkers.com, she lives on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.

Hilarious, smart, moving, and kind, Laurentian Divide is good for the soul, or anyway, it was good for mine.

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Richard Russo

There aren’t many writers on the planet who can take a reader’s heart apart and put it back together again with the sureness of Sarah Stonich, who does exactly that over and over again in Laurentian Divide, her best yet. Funny and wise in equal measure, here’s a novel for everyone. What a treasure.

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Peter Geye, author of Wintering

With seamless grace, Sarah Stonich has again woven the towering majesty of Minnesota's Arrowhead Country with the endearing miscellany of its denizens, creating a tapestry both elegant and earthy. Here, reader, are joy and artistry.

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Faith Sullivan, author of Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse

Laurentian Divide is rich, funny, and overflowing with life—Sarah Stonich at the top of her powers.

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Will Weaver, author of Sweet Land

With a nimble hand and wry voice, Sarah Stonich pilots this generous tale—incisive, musical, and spiced with pungent observation so that Laurentian Divide becomes the best sort of trip.

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Leif Enger, author of Peace Like a River and Virgil Wander

It was a pleasure to spend time with these characters again and see the family they have created within their community. Sarah Stonich’s beautiful prose, sly humor, and obvious fondness for her subject matter make Laurentian Divide a must-read.

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Pamela Klinger-Horn, Excelsior Bay Books

Thanks to Stonich’s keen depictions, this is a small town peopled with actual people: diverse individuals united by a common experience of place. Laurentian Divide transports attention to a ‘scrap of near-nowhere’ because ‘life isn’t something that happens to you—how you choose to react to what happens is life.’

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Foreword Reviews

Stonich weaves past and present into a lyrical, immersive novel. Fans of Kent Haruf and Paulette Jiles will fall in love with Stonich’s depiction of Minnesota: harsh and welcoming, friendly and unforgiving, all at once. Exploring the consequences of actions set in motion months, years, or even decades ago, Stonich’s slow burn of a novel questions what—and who—can belong to us.

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Booklist

The second book in a planned trilogy is a vivid stand-alone tale of life in Hatchet Inlet. It’s a treat to return to Hatchet Inlet and revisit characters who continue to face joy and sorrow with a wry resolve that is fetching and funny.

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Star Tribune

Laurentian Divide does what a good sequel should. It fills in details and updates on the characters that we love, but also tells a compelling story of its own. There is an understanding of the bittersweet realities of life, an acceptance of the good and bad that comes with the simple act of living.

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Nicole M. Burrell

One of the strengths of Laurentian Divide is Stonich’s ability to write a male point of view. She attributes this ability to get inside men’s heads to years of listening to discussions between her father, two brothers and Finnish uncles.

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Pioneer Press

The novel is wryly funny, but there is an undercurrent of sadness.

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MPR News