{"product_id":"north-9781419750434","title":"North","description":"\u003cb\u003eA powerfully moving novel about the intertwined lives of a Vermont monk, a Somali refugee, and an Afghan war veteran by Brad Kessler, the award-winning author of the acclaimed memoir \u003ci\u003eGoat Song\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eFinalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFinalist for the Vermont Book Award\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e As a late spring blizzard brews, Brother Christopher, a cloistered monk at Blue Mountain Monastery in Vermont, rushes to tend to his Ida Red and Northern Spy apple trees in advance of the unseasonal snowstorm. When the storm lands a young Somali refugee named Sahro Abdi Muse at the monastery, Christopher is pulled back into the world as his life intersects with Sahro's and that of an Afghan war veteran in surprising and revealing ways. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eNorth\u003c\/i\u003e traces the epic journey of Sahro from her home in Somalia to South America, along the migrant route through Central America and Mexico, to New York City, and finally, her dangerous attempt to continue north to safety in Canada. It also compellingly traces the inner journeys of Brother Christopher, questioning his future in a world where the monastery way of life is waning, and of veteran Teddy Fletcher, seeking a way to make peace with his past. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Written in Brad Kessler's sharp, beautiful, and observant prose, and grounded in the author's own corner of Vermont, where there is a Carthusian monastery, a vibrant community of Somali asylum seekers, and a hole left after a disproportionate number of Vermont soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, \u003ci\u003eNorth\u003c\/i\u003e gives voice to these invisible communities, delivering a story of human connection in a time of displacement. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBrad Kessler\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of two critically acclaimed novels, \u003ci\u003eLick Creek\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBirds in Fall\u003c\/i\u003e, which was a recipient of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and a memoir, \u003ci\u003eGoat Song\u003c\/i\u003e. He has been awarded a Whiting, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eNation\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eKenyon Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e BOMB\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Vermont\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Harry N. Abrams","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50707716636946,"sku":"9781419750434","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_bbdd6c3d-6ecc-40df-a201-6b5381314da4.jpg?v=1734503616","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/north-9781419750434","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}