Each day counting down to the announcement of the Minnesota Book Awards we highlight one of the thirty-two finalists. Today we feature 2015 Novel & Short Story finalist Nicole Helget.
A Nation and City at a Crossroads
Stillwater by Nicole Helget
Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Category sponsored by Education Minnesota
Set in the harsh frontier of Minnesota during the Civil War, Stillwater centers around the lives of fraternal twins Clement and Angel, who are separated at birth and grow up in the same small community but worlds apart. An important stop on the Underground Railroad, Stillwater represents a crossroads between slavery and liberty, rugged individualism and the bounds of civilization. Helget takes the reader deep into the hardscrabble lives of pioneers, loggers, nuns, fur trappers, runaway slaves and freedmen – all seeking a brighter and more prosperous freedom.
About the Author:
Helget is the author of a previous novel, The Turtle Catcher, which was a winner of the Tamarack Prize, and a memoir, The Summer of Ordinary Ways, a People Critics’ Choice pick. She lives, teaches, and writes in Mankato.
The reviews are in:
“Stillwater is a pure Minnesota story, a rich and intricate novel full of compassion for these pioneers and the place they live.” – Mary Ann Grossmann, Pioneer Press
“This one’s going to be a big deal. Helget’s new book, Stillwater, is so entertaining, inventive, outrageous and well-told that I’m imagining a thousand book clubs gathering over her words, filmmakers vying to make the movie, and a leap from mere critical acclaim to something more like celebrity for the Mankato writer.” — Minnpost
“Rousing fun.” – Minneapolis Star Tribune
Links:
Kerri Miller interviews Nicole Helget on MPR’s The Daily Circuit
NPR interview with Nicole Helget
“The Ballad of Beaver Jean” – a song written by The Porchlights based on a character in Stillwater… the recording features background harmonies by Helget, herself!
Join us at the Awards Gala!
Award winners will be announced at the 27th Annual Minnesota Book Awards Gala on Saturday, April 18 at the historic St. Paul Union Depot. The opening reception begins at 7 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony at 8 p.m. Tickets are $50 and are available by visiting www.thefriends.org/gala.
Have you read Stillwater? What are your thoughts? We welcome your comments!