The Lager Queen of Minnesota, by J. Ryan Stradal
I really loved Stradal's debut novel, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, and his second book is just as sweet. The Lager Queen of Minnesota features three women in the same family: Helen, the younger sister, became obsessed with beer as a teenager and manipulated her life so carefully she managed to start and maintain what became a hugely popular Midwest brewery; Edith is her older sister, who was more or less cheated out of her inheritance and has lived a frugal, simple life baking delicious pies for a senior living facility; Diane is Edith's granddaughter, gifted but lacking options due to their financial straits, who discovers a talent for brewing craft beer.
Each of these three women narrates throughout the book, and Stradal once again does a great job of bringing these women to life. The plight of Edith and Diane is palpable, and illuminates some important existing inequalities in America, though the book isn't solely focused on that. The love of beer permeates: yeasty, funky, sour, bitter, tasty beer. You don't have to like beer to like this book, and in fact Edith certainly doesn't, but that doesn't stop her from helping her granddaughter when help is needed.
My only slight issue is the broken up formatting. There are line breaks everywhere, which creates a bit of a disjointed story line. You feel like you're reading in short vignettes rather than one coherent story. But this doesn't stop the book from being an absolutely enjoyable page turner, and yes, I cried at the end. This is another lovely novel from Stradal, perfect for when you want to read something well-written and uplifting, perhaps on the beach, perhaps on your couch, but definitely with a beer.
Preorder from an indie!
Each of these three women narrates throughout the book, and Stradal once again does a great job of bringing these women to life. The plight of Edith and Diane is palpable, and illuminates some important existing inequalities in America, though the book isn't solely focused on that. The love of beer permeates: yeasty, funky, sour, bitter, tasty beer. You don't have to like beer to like this book, and in fact Edith certainly doesn't, but that doesn't stop her from helping her granddaughter when help is needed.
My only slight issue is the broken up formatting. There are line breaks everywhere, which creates a bit of a disjointed story line. You feel like you're reading in short vignettes rather than one coherent story. But this doesn't stop the book from being an absolutely enjoyable page turner, and yes, I cried at the end. This is another lovely novel from Stradal, perfect for when you want to read something well-written and uplifting, perhaps on the beach, perhaps on your couch, but definitely with a beer.
Preorder from an indie!
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