A Good Animal - by Sara Maurer (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A heart-wrenching coming-of-age debut novel by a stunning new voice in fiction, for readers of Barbara Kingsolver and Ann Patchett.

In the farm fields surrounding Sault Ste. Marie, a border town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, time seems to stand still. Summer, the sun scalds the local boys' necks as they bale hay for cash. Winter, the girls bundle up against the cold and jostle through the high school halls like trailered sheep.

Most kids dream of leaving, but Everett Lindt plans to stay on his family's sheep farm, develop his own herd, and eventually rebuild the crumbling homestead that looks over the land he loves. When he meets Mary, a Coast Guard brat determined to set out on her own, he soon feels he can't live without her. After she discovers she's pregnant, he's convinced she'll stay by his side forever. Mary, however, is desperate to find a way out. With limited access to reproductive care, Everett and Mary discover a solution with potentially disastrous consequences.

Intimate and haunting, Sara Maurer's A Good Animal is a breathtaking story of the complexities of love, the beauty and brutality of rural life, and how one decision can echo through generations and shape who we become.

Review Quotes

"A slow, gorgeous waltz of a novel, written with great tenderness for the rural ways of life and insight into the human condition." - Jung Yun, author of O Beautiful and Shelter

"From the first sentence of her debut novel, Sara Maurer transports us to picturesque Sault Ste. Marie, where the rural way of life feels frozen in time. Everett Lindt is certain of his future there, even after he meets a new girl in town with big dreams. With pitch perfect prose Maurer captures the intensity of Everett's first love, and the haunting mistakes he makes despite his good intentions." - Tracey Lange, New York Times bestselling author of We Are the Brennans

"Debut author Sara Maurer storms out of the literary gates with a deeply felt story that explores how we come to learn what love is. This soul-stirring, elegiac novel reads like a classic and builds to a conclusion that will leave the reader breathless." - Christina Clancy, bestselling author of The Snowbirds

"A nostalgic and poignant coming-of-age novel that takes place in rural Michigan, A Good Animal will hook you the moment you read the haunting prologue. Maurer juxtaposes a teen's yearning to grow up against not being fully ready for adult responsibilities--along with the contrast of beauty and joy against the sometimes harsh realities of life and death on a farm--and bottles it up into a story of all the ways love shapes us that you won't want to put down." - Kristin Koval, author of Penitence

"Sara Maurer's beautifully written novel is humane, frank, and informed by a strong sense of place. It is a quiet, honest story about human needs, desires, and choices written with nuance, kindness, and grit. Reading A Good Animal is an immersive experience; this reader emerged caring for a widened circle of fellow travelers on the earth." - Ellen Airgood, author of Tin Camp Road and South of Superior

"Sara Maurer poignantly depicts the harshness and beauty of farm life in northern Michigan. A Good Animal is a sensitive coming-of-age story that contrasts the love of home and the land, against the urge to escape and experience new horizons. Older teens and adult readers will enjoy spending time with these characters and deliberating and discussing their choices." - Pamela Klinger-Horn, Valley Bookseller

About the Author

SARA MAURER lives with her family in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. She earned her bachelor's degree from Albion College and master's from Eastern Michigan University. She honed her creative writing craft while completing Stanford's Continuing Studies Novel Writing Certificate program. Her short fiction can be found in Dunes Review, Hominum Journal, and The Twin Bill. A Good Animal is her first novel.