True North, Andrew J. Graff
True North, Andrew J. Graff
List: $32.99 | Sale: $23.10
Club: $16.49

True North
A Novel

Author: Andrew J. Graff

Narrator: Lincoln Hoppe

Unabridged: 13 hr 37 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ecco

Published: 01/16/2024


Synopsis

From the author of Raft of Stars comes a heartfelt novel of marriage and whitewater rafting, following one couple as they navigate the changing currents of family, community, and the river itself.As the summer of 1993 begins, Sam and Swami Brecht roll into town with a twenty-six-foot Winnebago camper van, their three young kids, and the deed to Woodchuck Rafting Company. Sam and Swami met as young, adventurous river guides but, a decade later, find themselves weighed down by money worries and the demands of adulthood. The town of Thunderwater, in Wisconsin’s Northwoods, could be the fresh start their marriage needs. But Woodchuck, once the property of Sam’s eccentric uncle, has seen better days and will need a serious overhaul if it is going to stand a chance at survival.Soon Sam and Swami learn they are not the only ones looking for change and profit on the river. A competing rafting outfit, clashing raft guides, stubborn townsfolk, and an exploratory mining company begin to threaten their tenuous livelihood. Then nature intervenes, in the form of historic floods throughout the Midwest. Amid tumultuous currents both on and off the river, Sam and Swami struggle to maintain the new life they’ve built. Before the summer draws to a close, the Brechts must learn to face the floodwaters together in order to create a sustainable future for their family, the town, and the pristine river from which it all flows.

About Andrew J. Graff

Andrew J. Graff is the author of novel Raft of Stars. His fiction and essays have appeared in Image and Dappled Things. Andrew grew up fishing, hiking, and hunting in Wisconsin's Northwoods. After a tour of duty in Afghanistan, he earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He lives in Ohio and teaches at Wittenberg University.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Karen on May 27, 2024

What seems like the perfect “retirement” new life “career” quickly feels like a dream gone badly for Sam and Swami. The idea to live and work along the river seems to slowly melt away into troubles and slick well-financed competition. Sam and Swami are struggling as a couple, and the dreams are defi......more

Goodreads review by Cassie on February 18, 2024

For a split second, Sam could see the whole vision again, his family a river family, Sam himself someday an old man with a permanent tan and a beard and the gorge in his voice, expansive and happy and filled. It's 1993, and Sam and Swami Brecht and their children are heading north to Thunderwater......more

Goodreads review by Ron on January 17, 2024

With the country locked in ice, “True North,” Andrew J. Graff’s warmhearted story about a summer of white-water rafting, sounds like the vacation we all need. Graff’s second novel offers just enough drama to be exciting and just enough reassurance that everybody will get home safe. But the stakes cou......more

Goodreads review by Kelly on November 19, 2023

Like the winding waters of a river, Sam and Swami Brecht must navigate new currents after Sam loses his teaching job in the summer of 1993. TRUE NORTH is a family drama that follows Sam, Swami and their three children on an unexpected path to the Northwoods of Wisconsin to take over Sam’s Uncle’s wh......more

Goodreads review by Laura on January 24, 2024

Rated 2.5 stars and rounded up to 3 I found this book so frustrating from beginning to end. Sam, parent of three, about to be unemployed, decides the best thing to do is buy his uncle’s failing raft business. He does zero research into the area or the business, has no business plan and has no money a......more