Thomas Fox Averill & John Reimringer read from their new work
“Averill has a remarkable facility with expressing wisdom in the simplest of language. Indeed, sincerity—in both language and feeling—is a signature feature of this unique historical novel.” —Catherine Browder, author of Secret Lives
Not just epistolary, this novel is archival, told entirely through journals, letters, photos, drawings, notes, and clippings left behind by Nell Doerr, who lived in Lawrence, Kansas, between 1854 and 1889. Although Nell seems so real you can reach out and touch her, she is a fictional character. The novel tells the story of her two stillborn babies, her move to Kansas, the loss of her husband in Quantrill’s Raid, and her discovery, while hiding in her basement, of the fossils of ancient creatures in the foundation rock. In finding these specimens this unforgettable heroine finds herself, a woman unconventional and strong, a mother without children, a wife without a husband, a scientist without educational pedigree, but someone who nurtures her passion for nature and contributes to the scientific knowledge of her time.
Thomas Fox Averill is the author of rode, Secrets of the Tsil Cafe A Novel with Recipes, and A Carol Dickens Christmas: A Novel, all available from UNM Press. He lives in Topeka, Kansas.
John Reimringer’s first novel, Vestments, was named one of the "Best Books of 2010" by Publishers Weekly and won the 2011 Minnesota Book Award for Novel and Short Story. He is at work on the second book in the Saint Paul trilogy.
38 S Snelling Ave
Common Good Books
St Paul, MN 55105
United States