Heaven, Indiana by Jan Maher (English) Paperback Book

Description: Heaven, Indiana by Jan Maher August 1954, in Heaven, Indiana, a baby is secretly delivered twice: first in a barn then to the tent door of a carnival fortune-teller. When Nadja and her adoptive Granny reappear in Heaven decades later, the secret of her birth is teased into the open, and the town is forever changed. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description One hot week in August 1954, in Heaven, Indiana, a baby is delivered twice: once in a barn by her grandfather, the second time to the tent door of a carnival fortune-teller by her grandmother Helen. The baby, Nadja, becomes part of a long tradition of well-kept secrets in the tiny town of her birth. She grows up traveling with her adoptive grandmother, the fortune-teller, learning to develop her own gifts of precognition, reading the remains of lunches and dinners to see what lies ahead in her clients lives.Meanwhile, two other girls born in Heaven that same year are growing to maturity. Ellie Denson waits tables at Claras Kitchen, and searches maps in her spare time, haunted by powerful urges to be Somewhere Else. Sue Ellen Sue Tipton marries her high school sweetheart and happily takes on the role of the town hairdresser, keeping herself informed on the latest in permanent waves and gossip, some of which revolves around Helens temporary insanity and Lesters numerous affairs.In spite of the penchant Heavens denizens have for quietly getting into each others business, a great many secrets manage to remain hidden, stuffed into apron pockets, tucked into attic trunks, locked into desk drawers. When Nadjas Granny decides to retire in Heaven, their reappearance in town begins to tease a number of these stories out into the open, with results that really give the town something to talk about. The stories emerge against the backdrop of Indianas larger history of secrets, ranging from pre-Civil War anti-slavery societies to post-Reconstruction Klan activities.Heaven, Indiana weaves the subtle humor and muted manners of the Hoosier State together with its sometimes foolish and sometimes devastating legacy of secrets to trace how Ellie Denson does, finally, manage to leave and Nadja does, finally, truly get to come home.Named to Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2018; 2018 winner LGBT category, American Fiction Award. Author Biography Jan Mahers fiction and poetry have been published in literary journals and anthologies including Atticus Review; Eclectica Magazine; Meat for Tea: The Valley Review; Ride 2: More Short FIction About Bicycles; Compass Roads: Poems about the Pioneer Valley, and A Flash of Words: 49 Flash-Fiction Stories. Her novel Earth As It Is was named a Best Indie of 2017 by Kirkus Reviews and American Fiction Awards 2018 LGBT Award Winner. Her novel Heaven, Indiana garnered Best Indie of 2018 designation from Kirkus Reviews. Her play Most Dangerous Women has been produced in dozens of venues in ten states since its debut performance in Seattle in 1990. Her books for educators and community activists include Most Dangerous Women: Bringing History to Life through Readers Theater and History in the Present Tense (co-authored with Doug Selwyn). She holds a PhD from The Union Institute and University in Interdisciplinary Studies and is a senior scholar at the Institute for Ethics in Public Life, State University of New York at Plattsburgh where she taught courses in gender and womens studies and education. A native of central Indiana, she now lives in Greenfield, MA with her husband Doug Selwyn where she is active with Greening Greenfield, producing community events that bring together performance with environmental issues. Review Buried secrets churn beneath the placid surface of a small town in this tragicomic debut novel...rendered in pitch-perfect dialogue by sharply drawn characters whose folksiness still encompasses layers of complication and conflict. A bit like a darker-tinged version of Garrison Keillors Lake Wobegon narrative, Mahers fictive universe unfolds with richly humorous details and expansive meaning. A funny, poignant tale of an imperfect paradise. - Kirkus ReviewsMagical realism comes to the heartland...A rich amalgam of a novel, Heaven, Indiana is out of this world and so much of it. - Michael MartoneA story of crossed paths, of roads not taken, a leaving and a homecoming. This little bit of Heaven leaves us wanting more. - Wendy Fawthrop, Seattle Union RecordA lush, multilayered portrait of the cycle of life, the interconnectedness of human experience, and the sometimes painful but always necessary struggle of each individual to search for a sacred niche that can legitimately be called "home." This is a remarkable piece of writing. - Arthur C. JonesThe book reads like the towns best gossip bending your ear, with all the juicy details and half-truths that make gossip so compelling...Remarkably, Maher is able to maintain a convincing consistency of character through decades of life changes, both subtle and dramatic. This book is over much too quickly. - VIviann Kuehl, The Midwest Book ReviewThere is something about the loneliness and self-sufficiency of the characters, something about their secrets and their passions, their loyalties and the fact that they remain mysteries to each other, that keeps me attached to this book in a way I can only assert, but not explain. - Susan KoppelmanIt has been a long, long time since I have read a novel that left me feeling so filled and yet so emptied at the end. Fannie Flaggs Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe comes the closest. In Heaven, Indiana, Jan Maher describes life in a small, perhaps failing Midwestern town that in a sense, sits on the edge of eternity. In a place where everyone knows everyone elses business, secrets flourish and permeate the fabric of the towns life. Ms. Maher tells her story not only with economy but with such extraordinary clarity, sensitivity and understanding of, and compassion for, human nature, it took my breath away. Heaven, Indiana is heaven. - Laura PalkovicI love this book--the control of tone, the ingenity of plot, the delicious prose! As an English prof Im a persnikety reader, so you can imagine, when I say that its on my short list of books to cherish, how many it beat out. Cant wait to get my hands on the sequel and see these people again. The startling end of this novel promises developments beyond our conceiving, though not beyond Mahers. Not much is beyond hers. Shes a great pleasure and a happy discovery. - Ann B. Tracy Details ISBN1943547025 Pages 200 Language English Year 2019 ISBN-10 1943547025 ISBN-13 9781943547029 Format Paperback Publication Date 2019-10-23 Imprint Dog Hollow Press Author Jan Maher Publisher Dog Hollow Press UK Release Date 2019-10-23 Edition Description Book Club ed. 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