Homestead
A Novel
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3.7 • 23 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
From NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION 5 UNDER 35 HONOREE and FLANNERY O'CONNOR AWARD WINNER Melinda Moustakis, a debut novel set in Alaska, about the turbulent marriage of two unlikely homesteaders
“A beautiful novel, quiet as a snowfall, warm as a glowing wood stove…Admirers of Marilynne Robinson and Alice Munro are bound to appreciate.” —NPR
“Spare and exquisite, tough and lovely. The sentences build on themselves, becoming expansive and staggering in their sweep.” —The New York Times Book Review
Anchorage, 1956. When Marie and Lawrence first lock eyes at the Moose Lodge, they are immediately drawn together. But when they decide to marry, days later, they are more in love with the prospect of homesteading than anything else. For Lawrence, his parcel of 150 acres is an opportunity to finally belong in a world that has never delivered on its promise. For Marie, the land is an escape from the empty future she sees spinning out before her, and a risky bet is better than none at all. But over the next few years, as they work the land in an attempt to secure a deed to their homestead, they must face everything they don’t know about each other. As the Territory of Alaska moves toward statehood and inexorable change, can Marie and Lawrence create something new, or will they break apart trying?
Immersive and wild-hearted, joyfully alive to both the intimate and the elemental, Homestead is an unflinching portrait of a new state and of the hard-fought, hard-bitten work of making a family.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Moustakis shines in her debut, the dramatic rendering of a young couple's homesteader life in mid-1950s Alaska. Marie Kubala, having fled a dreary life in Texas, visits her sister and her husband, Sly, in Alaska, hoping to find a husband. Meanwhile, Lawrence Beringer, a Korean war vet from a small Minnesota farm, arrives with big dreams for his 150-acre claim in the Alaskan territory. The two meet at a lodge, where they bond over a shared excitement at the prospect of owning their own land. Moustakis adroitly traces their trajectory as they marry and throw themselves into the rigors of setting up a home in the wild. It takes a while for Lawrence to become intimate with Marie, and their relationship strengthens under false pretenses after he lies about adding her name to the land deed. Later, they face devastating challenges while trying to start a family, as well as catastrophic dangers in the wild, and Marie's questions about the deed push them to a boiling point. The wondrous descriptions of the back-breaking labor involved in clearing and farming the land, and of the region's vast beauty, will make readers feel like they're there. This evocative, well-drawn account of Alaska's American settlers is so convincing it ought to come with a pair of mittens.
Customer Reviews
Want to hear more!
This was a great story, but I didn't like the ending. I want to hear more about Marie and Lawrence. Perhaps there will be a sequel....