4*
Best-selling author Landvik has written another wonderful story set in MN featuring a charming and quirky set of characters who welcome us into their lives. Haze Evans has been a columnist for the Granite Creek Gazette since 1964, chronicling both the news (locally and worldwide) and human-interest stories supported by her (often liberal) opinions. As a result, she has built a huge fan base but has also had her share of detractors. In fact, she earned her nickname from one of her most ardent critics who wrote “...this morning’s looney harangue was nothing more than a chronicle of a radical hag.” When she falls into a coma after a stroke, the editor/owner Susan McGrath decides to publish some of her old columns chronologically along with comments.
Sam, Susan’s 15-year-old son, has been acting up as the result of his parents’ separation, so she puts him to work reading the old columns and choosing which to publish. In the process, he comes to know Haze, learns about history, reveals shocking family secrets, and, most importantly, finds his own voice. “This is kind of a surprise to me, but I’m really getting into writing in a way that seems to matter way more than a hobby. Not like I’m good or anything at it, but I really like—no, I love doing it. Love trying to put down what I’m thinking and feeling.” He has so much to say that his teacher adds “Radical Hag Wednesdays” to the curriculum so that Sam and his classmates can weigh in on the events and opinions expressed in the columns. As his teacher said, “I think that’s the gift of any good writer...By bringing us into their own world, they bring us into the whole world.”
Whether intentional or not, Landvik has used Haze’s opinions on past and current events to advance a very liberal political agenda, which may offend Trump supporters and other ultra-conservatives. There is nothing off the table: Watergate (“...no one—not even the president—is above the law”); immigration; Christians against LGBTQ; the AIDS crisis; abortion and Roe vs. Wade; terrorism; the opioid crisis; the 2000 election; the senselessness of war; teens and porn; gun control; and white male privilege. Every topic is supported either by Haze’s personal anecdotes or the experiences of secondary characters in the book who are suffering the consequences of prejudice, hatred, or government’s heavy-handed regulation. There is so much packed into the pages of this novel, but the ultimate take-aways are that there is great value in putting pen to paper rather than communicating via technology, the old have so much wisdom and knowledge that they can share with the young if given the chance, long-buried secrets are often exposed, people’s bad behavior often masks deep pain and loss, and history has a way of repeating itself unless people learn from it.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from University of MN Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
Sam, Susan’s 15-year-old son, has been acting up as the result of his parents’ separation, so she puts him to work reading the old columns and choosing which to publish. In the process, he comes to know Haze, learns about history, reveals shocking family secrets, and, most importantly, finds his own voice. “This is kind of a surprise to me, but I’m really getting into writing in a way that seems to matter way more than a hobby. Not like I’m good or anything at it, but I really like—no, I love doing it. Love trying to put down what I’m thinking and feeling.” He has so much to say that his teacher adds “Radical Hag Wednesdays” to the curriculum so that Sam and his classmates can weigh in on the events and opinions expressed in the columns. As his teacher said, “I think that’s the gift of any good writer...By bringing us into their own world, they bring us into the whole world.”
Whether intentional or not, Landvik has used Haze’s opinions on past and current events to advance a very liberal political agenda, which may offend Trump supporters and other ultra-conservatives. There is nothing off the table: Watergate (“...no one—not even the president—is above the law”); immigration; Christians against LGBTQ; the AIDS crisis; abortion and Roe vs. Wade; terrorism; the opioid crisis; the 2000 election; the senselessness of war; teens and porn; gun control; and white male privilege. Every topic is supported either by Haze’s personal anecdotes or the experiences of secondary characters in the book who are suffering the consequences of prejudice, hatred, or government’s heavy-handed regulation. There is so much packed into the pages of this novel, but the ultimate take-aways are that there is great value in putting pen to paper rather than communicating via technology, the old have so much wisdom and knowledge that they can share with the young if given the chance, long-buried secrets are often exposed, people’s bad behavior often masks deep pain and loss, and history has a way of repeating itself unless people learn from it.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from University of MN Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
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