Stillwater: A Novel

"Rousing fun." — MinneapolisStar Tribune

“A wonder of a novel, rich in history, humor, and heart, with prose that flows and sparkles like a sunlit river.” — Benjamin Percy, author of Red Moon

“Lyrical and humorous [with] gorgeous prose . . . A rich and intricate novel full of compassion for these pioneers and the place they live.” — St. Paul Pioneer Press
 
Raised in the same small community, Clement and Angel, fraternal twins separated at birth, grow up in different worlds. He lives among orphans, nuns, Native Americans, prostitutes. She lives in the town mansion, dressed in taffeta skirts and dodging her mother’s manic attention. Bound by a mystical connection, the twins rarely meet, but Clement knows if he is truly in need, Angel will come.

Near the Mississippi River and Canada, Stillwater becomes an important stop on the Underground Railroad. As the nation pushes boundaries, geographic and moral, and marches into civil war, the territory is at a crossroads. Clement and Angel have both learned to survive at the edge of things, but what will this new world hold for them? Will it set them free?

Stillwater is a lyrical, vibrant, often hilarious, and always unforgettable journey into our past, ourselves, and the impulses that drive us to create and explore.
 
“Told in a vigorous and warmly resonant prose that captures both the ridiculous and the sublime . . . A steady pleasure.” — Historical Novel Society

“Stillwater has true grit . . . Entertaining, inventive, outrageous and well-told.”—MinnPost