The Lager Queen of Minnesota
A Novel
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2.0 • 1 Rating
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
A National Bestseller!
“The perfect pick-me-up on a hot summer day.”
—Washington Post
“[A] charmer of a tale. . . Warm, witty and--like any good craft beer--complex, the saga delivers a subtly feminist and wholly life-affirming message.”
—People Magazine
A novel of family, Midwestern values, hard work, fate and the secrets of making a world-class beer, from the bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest
Two sisters, one farm. A family is split when their father leaves their shared inheritance entirely to Helen, his younger daughter. Despite baking award-winning pies at the local nursing home, her older sister, Edith, struggles to make what most people would call a living. So she can't help wondering what her life would have been like with even a portion of the farm money her sister kept for herself.
With the proceeds from the farm, Helen builds one of the most successful light breweries in the country, and makes their company motto ubiquitous: "Drink lots. It's Blotz." Where Edith has a heart as big as Minnesota, Helen's is as rigid as a steel keg. Yet one day, Helen will find she needs some help herself, and she could find a potential savior close to home. . . if it's not too late.
Meanwhile, Edith's granddaughter, Diana, grows up knowing that the real world requires a tougher constitution than her grandmother possesses. She earns a shot at learning the IPA business from the ground up--will that change their fortunes forever, and perhaps reunite her splintered family?
Here we meet a cast of lovable, funny, quintessentially American characters eager to make their mark in a world that's often stacked against them. In this deeply affecting family saga, resolution can take generations, but when it finally comes, we're surprised, moved, and delighted.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
You might not think a novel about family and beer would have gentle humour, dead-on observations of blue-collar Midwestern life, and a heart as big as Lake Superior, but this one does! J. Ryan Stradal’s mighty characters make the story: Edith, the best pie maker in Minnesota, who has the inner strength of a steel cable; her brilliant, troubled granddaughter; and her estranged sister, Helen, owner of the Blotz Brewery. When life’s regular cycles of birth and death bump up against its more knotty aspects—like letting go of grudges or having your business bruised by beer-drinking trends—the wisdom of these women is their life preserver, and their story left our hearts warm and satisfied.
