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Fans of Jerry Apps will delight in his latest novel, "Blue Shadows
Farm," which follows the intriguing family story of three
generations on a Wisconsin farm.
Silas Starkweather, a Civil War veteran, is drawn to Wisconsin and
homesteads 160 acres in Ames County, where he is known as the
mysterious farmer forever digging holes. After years of hardship
and toil, however, Silas develops a commitment to farming his land
and respect for his new community. When Silas's son Abe inherits
Blue Shadows Farm he chooses to keep the land out of reluctant
necessity, distilling and distributing "purified corn water"
throughout Prohibition and the Great Depression in order to stay
solvent. Abe's daughter, Emma, willingly takes over the farm after
her mother's death. Emma's love for this place inspires her to open
the farm to school-children and families who share her respect for
it. As she considers selling the land, Emma is confronted with a
difficult question--who, through thick and thin, will care for Blue
Shadows Farm as her family has done for over a century? In the
midst of a controversy that disrupts the entire community, Emma
looks into her family's past to help her make crucial decisions
about the future of its land.
Through the story of the Starkweather family's changing fortunes,
and each generation's very different relationship with the farm and
the land, "Blue Shadows Farm" is in some ways the narrative of all
farmers and the increasingly difficult challenges they face as
committed stewards of the land. Finalist, General Fiction, Midwest
Book Awards
When journalist Josh Wittmore moves from the Illinois bureau of
Farm Country News to the newspaper's national office in Wisconsin,
he encounters the biggest story of his young career-just as the
paper's finances may lead to its closure. Josh's big story is that
a corporation that plans to establish an enormous hog farm has
bought a lot of land along the Tamarack River in bucolic Ames
County. Some of the local residents and officials are excited about
the jobs and tax revenues that the big farm will bring, while
others worry about truck traffic, porcine aromas, and manure runoff
polluting the river. And how would the arrival of a large
agribusiness affect life and traditions in this tightly knit rural
community of family farmers? Josh strives to provide impartial
agricultural reporting, even as his newspaper is replaced by a new
Internet-only version owned by a former New York investment banker.
And it seems that there may be another force in play: the vengeful
ghost of a drowned logger who locals say haunts the valley of the
Tamarack River.
The fourth novel in Jerry Apps's Ames County series, "Cranberry
Red" brings the story into the present, portraying the challenges
of agriculture in the twenty-first century.
As the novel opens, Ben Wesley has lost his job as agricultural
agent for Ames County. He is soon hired as a research application
specialist for Osborne University, a for-profit institution that
has developed "Cranberry Red," a new chemical that promises not
only to improve cranberry crop yields but also to endow the fruits
with the power to prevent heart disease, reduce brain damage from
strokes, and ward off Alzheimer's disease. Ben must promote the new
product to cranberry growers in Ames County and beyond, but he
worries whether the promised results are credible. Was Cranberry
Red rushed to market?
When the chemical does all that the university claims it will do,
Ben is relieved . . . until disturbing side effects emerge. Can he
criticize Cranberry Red and safeguard farmers and consumers without
losing his job, or will Ben's honesty get him fired while his
community continues to get sicker?
Finalist, General Fiction, Midwest Book Awards
When the Alstage Mining Company proposes a frac sand mine in the
small Ames County village of Link Lake, events quickly escalate to
a crisis. Business leader Marilyn Jones of the Link Lake Economic
Development Council heads the pro-mine forces, citing needed jobs
and income for the county. Octogenarian Emily Higgins and other
Link Lake Historical Society members are aghast at the proposed
mine location in the community park, where a huge and ancient bur
oak - the historic Trail Marker Oak - has stood since it pointed
the way along an old Menominee trail. Reluctantly caught in the
middle of the fray is Ambrose Adler, a reclusive, retired farmer
with a secret. Soon the fracas over frac sand attracts some
national attention, including that of Stony Field, the pen name of
a nationally syndicated columnist. Will the village board vote to
solve their budget problems with a cut of the mining profits? Will
the mine create real jobs for local folks? Will Stony Field come to
the village to lead protests against the mine? And will defenders
of the Trail Marker Oak literally draw a battle line in the sand?
The year is 1955. The H. H. Harlow Pickle Company has appeared in
the small town of Link Lake, using heavy-handed tactics to force
family farmers to either farm the Harlow way or lose their biggest
customer - and, possibly, their land. Andy Meyer, the owner of a
half-acre pickle patch, works part-time for the Harlow Company, a
conflict that places him between the family farm and the big
corporation. As he sees how Harlow begins to change the rural
community and the lives of its people, Andy must make personal,
ethical, and life-changing decisions.
In this eminently readable story, Jerry Apps delves into the heart
of small-town America. Reckoning with timely problems and opinions
that divide us, he shows us the power in restoring our
relationships with nature and our communities.
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