J.F. Riordan
A Room of One's Own 2717 Atwood Ave., Madison, Wisconsin 53704
ISTHMUS PICK
Sunday, June 12, A Room of One’s Own, 2 pm
This Milwaukee author discusses her new novel The Audacity of Goats, the second book in her award-winning North of the Tension Line series.
press release:
A Room of One's Own welcomes Wisconsin author J.F. Riordan back for a reading from her latest novel, The Audacity of Goats!
Second in the award-winning North of the Tension Line series, The Audacity of Goats is the continuing tale of Fiona Campbell, and her reluctant adventures among the pleasures, mysteries, and exasperations of life on a remote island. J. F. Riordan's lyrical prose and rich characters are a tribute to small town life and the beauty of the ordinary. Peopled with sharply drawn characters whose experiences are by turns serious, mystical, and ridiculous, The Audacity of Goats brings into sharp focus the pitfalls and vicious politics that prevail in small towns everywhere.
In an age of celebrity, this series celebrates the well-lived life of the ordinary man and woman. Its protagonist, city-bred Fiona Campbell, is a strong-willed, independent woman with an intellectual bent and a sense of irony that comes in handy during her frequent lapses into public humiliation. A series of unsettling nighttime incidents have left the islanders uncertain whether to be nervous or annoyed. Are they victims of an elaborate teenage prank, or is there a malevolent stranger lurking on the island?
Out-of-state owners of a new goat farm seem to consider themselves the self-proclaimed leaders of the island; Pali, the ferry captain, is troubled by his own unique version of writer's block; and Ben, the captain's ten year-old son, appears to be hiding something. But it is only when the imperturbable Lars Olafsen announces his retirement and Stella announces her candidacy for his office that the islanders realize that trouble is brewing. Fiona must decide whether it is time to leave the island for good, or to make another reckless gamble.
A transplanted Midwesterner, J.F. Riordan lives in exile from Washington Island with her husband and two and a half dogs. She blogs at http://northofthetensionline.net.