A Small Earnest Question
A Small Earnest Question by J. F. Riordan, published by Beaufort Books in June 2021, is a literary fiction work that unfolds on Washington Island during spring. The narrative centers around Elisabeth as she navigates the challenges of planning a grand opening for their newly remodeled hotel while accommodating her partner Roger’s unconventional ideas, such as goat yoga classes. The story also follows Oliver Robert, who joins a book club, and Emily Martin, who aspires to enhance her community’s cultural landscape through a literary festival.
Readers will encounter a tapestry of small-town dynamics, friendships, and local controversies as various characters grapple with personal ambitions and community issues. The plot weaves together themes of romance, friendship, and the complexities of rural life, with characters like real estate agent Marcie Landmeier and Fire Chief Jim Freeberg facing their own dilemmas. This edition spans 387 pages and is presented in English, offering a glimpse into the beauty and mysteries of everyday life through Riordan’s engaging storytelling.
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Finalist for the 2020 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards!
It’s spring on Washington Island. Despite her concerns about Roger’s desire to bartend, Elisabeth is eager to plan a grand opening for their newly remodeled hotel, but she quickly realizes that she may also need to make accommodations for Roger’s proposed goat yoga classes. Bored and lonely, Oliver Robert joins bartender Eddie in forming a great books club at Nelsen’s, and Emily Martin, determined to make her mark on the community, forms a new Committee of the Concerned.
When Emily decides that the Island needs a literary festival, complete with a famous author, she imprudently seeks out a notorious celebrity, hoping, as always, to enhance her own prestige. Real estate agent Marcie Landmeier confides that an unknown someone is buying up the Island’s shoreline, newly-appointed Fire Chief Jim Freeberg contends with a string of suspicious fires, and Pali and Ben have a spiritual encounter that will change them both. Meanwhile, drawn once more into local controversy, and awash in suspicion herself, Fiona Campbell must determine the answers to questions that will affect her future, and the future of the entire Island.
A Small Earnest Question is Book Four in the award-winning North of the Tension Line series, set on a remote island in the Great Lakes. Called a modern-day Jane Austen, author J.F. Riordan creates wry, engaging tales and vivid characters that celebrate the beauty and mysteries of everyday life.
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