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November 15, 2010
Peter Geye and “Safe from the Sea” Recieve High Praise
AN INDIENEXT PICK FOR OCTOBER 2010 !!
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A Publishers Weekly “Indie Sleeper” Selection !!
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A MIDWEST CONNECTIONS PICK !!
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A WNBA Great Group Read selection for 2010 !!
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GLIBA Great Lakes, Great Reads selection !!
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Praise for
SAFE FROM THE SEA
By Peter Geye
“A beautiful book—all shipwreck and rescue.”— Alyson Hagy
“A rich, satisfying novel about family members who make amends after a lifetime of estrangement.”—The Minneapolis Star Tribune
“In this deeply moving, powerfully realized debut novel, an estranged father and son find reconciliation in the final week of the father’s life…Geye tackles the subjects of death, dying, and living with admirable insight and courage…Geye engages the complexities of family dynamics skillfully and handles especially well the kind of family grudges and misunderstandings that can cripple relationships for decades, as they do here. Inspiring, wise, and enthusiastically recommended for all readers.—Library Journal
“A reader can just about feel the cold spray of Lake Superior and taste the softness of the lefse…. The best sections of “Safe From the Sea” are the stories Olaf tells, and the questions Noah asks, especially about the tragedy of the Ragnarøk. What we expect from a man vs. nature story is not that man will win, but that man will be wise and valiant, and give it everything he has. Olaf’s account of the wreck lives up to the great tradition of adventure storytelling. His pain about the shipwreck is not only survivor’s angst, but also specific guilt about a lost shipmate that he has never shared before…. Olaf’s last wish presents Noah with a watery physical challenge of his own, and gives the back end of the novel a touch of fairy tale, a la late John Cheever.”—The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“A finely crafted first novel…Give this book to readers of David Guterson and Robert Olmstead, who will be captured by the themes of approaching death and the pain and solace provided by nature.”—Booklist
“At once a Great Lakes adventure, an ode to a vanished life, and a gorgeous examination of the healing of deep wounds between father and son. This is a tautly written gem.”—Joseph Boyden
“[A] lyric story of familial strife and reconciliation…Geye excels at capturing the importance of life’s seemingly small moments and at cataloging their beauty…Geye shows how relationships—however flawed the participants—can be salvaged and strengthened when people strive to make things work through understanding and the search for and sharing of the truth.”—ForeWord Magazine
“Geye is a skilled and subtle observer. Throughout the book, readers are given an affectionate and perceptive view of roughhewn northern Minnesota, not only its Walden-esque lakes and forests, but also its thrifty and honest people…Geye is a gifted storyteller…Geye might wince to read this, but he could be a first-rate adventure novelist. He also excels in creating characters who are ordinary and exceptional at the same time—high praise for any author. The characters in Safe from the Sea are maturely-crafted; there are no heroes or villains in the book, just good people working through tough issues with grace and good humor.”—The New York Journal of Books
“The primeval beauty of the Great Lakes and the brutal power of its storms provide the backdrop for this superb examination of life’s natural cycle. As Noah Torr confronts both his dying father and he and his wife’s problems with conception, an old shipwreck and the effect it had on the Torr family supply the framework for the participants to appreciate life and death in the normal flow of human existence..”—Bill Cusumano, Nicola’s Books
“My suggestion to you? Read it, read it, read it. Grab a blanket and a comfy chair and turn in for an early night filled with vibrant people and an intriguing story. You won’t want to miss this one.”—Duluth Budgeteer News
“The setting was so beautifully and chillingly rendered and it wasn’t surprising that hearts shattered like ice when the ending…was revealed.” —Vicki Erwin, Main Street Books, St. Louis, MO
“Geye writes with exquisite tenderness of the end of one life and the flowering of another, one generation’s gift to the next.”—Curled Up with a Good Book
“You know everybody’s not going to make it when the book begins, but you have to know how those who survive move ahead. For a sparse setting in a frank emotional climate, there’s a lot to take from the warm scenes between father/son, son/wife, brother/sister.”—Geoffrey Jennings, Rainy Day Books
“Peter Geye has caught the essence of Minnesota’s exotic and remote North Shore of Lake Superior juxtaposed with a story of the poignant struggle between adult children and elderly parents. Lake Superior is the graveyard of hundreds of shipwrecks and Peter has allowed us to imagine one from a survivor’s point of view. In this setting a son and daughter take the time to be with their father in his last days- truth, understanding and respect emerge. We will enjoy handselling this novel in fall as we experience the Gales of November.”—Anita Zager, Northern Lights Bookstore
“Besides being a page-turning delight, his book is beautifully written, and the relationship between Noah and Olaf is one of the greatest father and son stories I’ve ever come across. This is a stunning novel…”– Steve Yarbrough
“Peter Geye has rendered the Minnesota north shore in all its stark, dangerous beauty, and it is the perfect backdrop for this deeply moving story of conflict and forgiveness. Safe from the Sea is a remarkable debut.”—Ron Rash
“A deep hearted novel of bitten lives lived out on the cold shore of a ferocious world. In the silence of their existence, the dignity of their bearing, Geye compassionately renders the magnitudes of their despair, endurance and greatness.” –Robert Olmstead
“Peter Geye has crafted one of the best descriptions of such a shipping disaster on Lake Superior that I’ve ever read… But this book is so much more than an exciting adventure story. Estranged from his father for much of his adult life, Noah is called to his Minnesota hometown, the shipping village of Misquah, by his dying father. What follows is nothing less than a true love story, revealed in chapters built around the shipping disaster tale… This gem is highly recommended for romantics and adventurists, men and women alike.”—Nancy Simpson, Book Vault
“One of the best books I’ve read in a long, long time…I rarely suggest novels to John. He’s more of a history buff. This is the first book I have suggested to him since Leif Enger’s Peace Like a River and So Brave, Young and Handsome, back in 2008.”—Winona Post
“This is a beautifully atmospheric book that has both seafaring adventure and a tender father-son story of regret and forgiveness. A young man and his aging father have a troubled and distant relationship, but when the son answers his father’s summons to the family’s cabin in the north woods, they find they have a deep longing for a better connection. As cold winds and snow sweep around the cabin, the father finally tells his son the true story of the shipwreck that has haunted their family for decades, and their hearts begin to thaw. This is a deeply emotional story about the family legacies that flow from one generation to another, shipwrecks or not, and if you’re like me, it will make you think long and hard about your own.”—Margie White, Just the Bookstore
“Beautifully written…when I find myself reading passages form the story aloud, I know the writing has truly captured me. It was a sad and touching book, but some scenes made me laugh out loud, while others were so moving that I had to take a moment away from the pages…Peter Geye has given me a short read that I enjoyed so much, his next book is sure to be on my list as well.”—A Curious Reader
“What a pleasant surprise this book was! A lovely story of good people, the bad things that push them apart and ultimately, of their own goodness bringing them back together in time to appreciate the impact they have on each other’s lives.”—Chris Rickert, Joseph-Beth Booksellers
“Peter Geye describes an incredible tale of life on the Great Lakes and lives regretted with his debut novel, Safe from the Sea. Lake Superior describes itself. Imagine a father-son estrangement, a major tragedy on the water and terminal illness. Patriarch Olaf Torr has a secret he’s been holding since the terrible night the Ragnarol caught fire. With a quick call, his son, Noah, is headed to a father he has had little contact with since the ship went down. Although son, Noah, doesn’t realize it, he is soon returned to his roots, learns past experiences he chose to forget and begins anew. A dark novel with an incredibly happy, though disturbing, ending that captured me from the prologue.”—Kristin Bates, McLean & Eakin Booksellers
“I don’t know of another novel that better captures that stormy North Atlantic up in Minnesota called Lake Superior than Peter Geye’s compelling debut novel, Safe from the Sea. He captures the wildness and the cold and braids those figurative aspects into a tenderly told story of a son and a father who has been anything but tender…a riveting sea tale…memorable.” —Stuart Dybek
“One of the best first novels I’ve ever read.’—Carl Hoffman, Boswell Book Co.
“Safe From the Sea is an honest story, of a hardened sailor and his son in their remote Minnesota cabin, together yet run aground from the apparent wind of lost years. While family secrets are awash in the past, the two work to fill in the missing space, the stories left unsaid, against the sway of shipwrecks and heartaches. Peter Geye has sounded a sensational whistle across the Great Lakes with his debut work.”—Michael Karpus, Books & Books Bal Harbour Shops
“Thirty-five years after Olaf survived the wreck of an ore transporter on Lake Superior he contacts his estranged son, Noah and tells him he’s sick and could use his help. Noah arrives at the family cabin and thus begins a healing between the two. This powerful and stunning first novel is written with such feeling. It’s the kind of book that stays with you long after you’ve read the last word. I’ve enjoyed savoring this book over and over for the last week as I’m walking in the woods, driving, it just comes popping into my head.”–Sue Richardson, Maine Coast Book Shop
“What a fine debut! A father-son rapprochement story that had me wishing my own father was still around so I could share this with him. I know he would have enjoyed it as much as I did.”—Peter Mock, McIntyre’s
“Peter Geye brings to life images of maritime history from a time when the ore ships plied the waters of the Great Lakes to feed the great industrial heart of America. Classic themes of redemption, reconciliation, and family ties are set against the awesome power and beauty of the north shore of Lake Superior. In the final weeks of his life, Olaf relives the story of his survival in an ore boat wreck decades earlier, and acknowledges his feelings of guilt and regret, while his estranged son Noah discovers that things are not always as they seem.” —Joni Montover, Paragraphs on Padre Boulevard
“An enjoyable brisk tale.”—Genre Go Round Reviews
“Safe From the Sea grabbed me from the start and will stick with me. It is a finely crafted character driven saga. Sure there have been stories done about father and son relationships before, but not like this. Peter Geye captures the relationship as well as the beautiful Lake Superior landscape with pitch perfect ease. In my opinion, it is a must read!”—So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
“This is a character-driven story and one that demonstrates the power of memory and the bonds of blood, a story of love and hope.”—bookviews.com
“There are just so many amazing things about this novel—the writing, the characters, the story and even the setting. Often times, I will say positive things about the first three, but I find that I rarely mention the importance of a book’s setting. Well, in the case of SAFE FROM THE SEA, I think the setting absolutely made this book. Not only did I find the setting of the Great Lakes to be an integral part of the novel (almost a character in its own right), but I loved how the author incorporated so much about the Norwegian immigrant culture into the story as well as the shipping industry. I knew little, if anything, about these things, yet all of these elements seemed to be a perfect backdrop for this story.
Probably what I loved most about this book was how well it touched upon a father and son’s tumultuous relationship…SAFE FROM THE SEA would make an excellent discussion book for book clubs, especially male ones (but there aren’t a whole lot of those out there.)”—bookingmama.com
“As a character study of both men, this book is amazing. It reveals fully-formed real men with honor and flaws in equal portions. The novel, by Peter Geye (his first, by the way), is amazing in how he balances both strong characters. He doesn’t magnify one over the other; he simply describes them and the mistakes they’ve made. However, most books with strong characters usually weaken in plot. Yet the plot in Safe From The Sea is equally strong.”—Black Sheep Dances
“This is ultimately a beautiful book, and in no small part because of the role the North Shore plays…. the writing is often lovely and evocative (yes, I know, that word is overused, but it applies here)…. Geye’s exploration of tense father-and-son relationships is moving, even more so for its setting.”
—Fly Over Land
“Set both on the shores of Northern Minnesota and the waters of the Great Lakes, Safe from the Sea is a deeply moving story about family bonds, tragic secrets, and the power of forgiveness. In the midst of infertility treatments and the daily demands of entrepreneurship, Noah receives a call from his estranged father, Olaf. His father is ill and needs help…. a heart-wrenching portrayal of how a father and son’s broken relationship is repaired with love and forgiveness.”
—Author Exposure
“Safe From The Sea is just the type of novel that lends itself well to a film adaptation. Olaf’s story of what happened aboard the Ragnarok when it sank would be a spectacular action sequence. I really hope a studio snaps this one up and turns it into a movie. Geye deals with issues such as infertility, adultery, death, and alcoholism in a thorough and sensitive manner. His tale of forgiveness, understanding and redemption is powerful, and it is going to stay with me for a long time. I loved it.”—The Well Read Wife
“Those of you who know me are aware that I seldom gush over anything, but allow me to gush over this fine literary novel. I hesitate to use that term since (a) for some, it implies the preciousness or elitism along the lines of the current Franzen-Stein masturbatory frenzy and (b) this book has all the adventure and excitement of a Jack London story, which I’d hardly characterize as exclusively literary. But the writing and the stories are masterful, the characters (and I include the Lake as a character) are as fully drawn as in the most literary of novels. It’s a stunning debut.”—Don Linn
“Heartbreaking and sad, but also cathartic.”—A Crowded Leaf
“Everything about the novel was captivating to me, from the father-son dynamics to the running of the freighters. And the theme of events, certainly catastrophic events but also simple ones, that forever change lives and relationships is monumental and artfully handled. I can’t say it enough: read this book and revel in its beauty.”—booknaround
“Wonderful…. a simple and beautiful novel, its sense of place only adds depth to its emotional impact.”—Page247
“Peter Geye’s Safe From the Sea, which I’m actually right in the middle of right now, but I can already tell that this is a special book. Lyrical, loaded with compassion for its characters, one of which is this arresting, dangerously alluring coast of Lake Superior. This is a gripping wonder of a book.”—Bruce Machart
“Geye’s writing is graphic and elegant, Olaf’s story of the doomed Ragnarøk a vital, powerful symbol for the author’s themes of courage, bravery and self-sacrifice. Olaf’s plea for Noah to return him to this beloved lake is the final gift, but one that comes at a price and with great hesitation for both Noah and Solveig. Revealing the heartrending connections between a father and his son and between a husband and his wife, the author beautifully infuses a man’s love for the sea with hope and trust. The result is a gorgeously melancholy journey of forgiveness mixed with an endless capacity for love.”—Curledup.com
“Stunning and gorgeously written. The story of the Raganok is spell-binding, but it is the moments of introspection which I enjoyed the most. The backdrop of the Minnesota wilderness, the approach of winter, the howling of the wolves across the lake – all of it works to create an unforgettable novel of a father and son who come to recognize that what connects them is stronger than what has divided them…Taken from an old Norse myth, the name of the ill-fated ore boat the Raganok defines the major theme of the novel – that despite disaster (or maybe because of it) there is hope in the future, that out of tragedy there may be rebirth. It is this idea of redemption and forgiveness which permeates Safe From The Sea…one of the best books I’ve read this year. Literary fiction lovers who also appreciate great adventure stories will love this novel.”—caribousmom
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