The Turtle Catcher($34.99Value)

Description

In a rural Minnesota town of German immigrants in the tumultuous days of World War I, The Turtle Catcher brings together two misfits from warring clans. Liesel, the one girl in the upstanding family of Richter boys, harbors a secret about her body that thwarts all hope for a normal life. Her closest friend is Lester, the "slow" boy in the raffish Sutter family, a gentle, kind soul who spends his days trapping turtles in the lake. Yearning for human touch in the wake of her parents' deaths, Liesel turns to her only friend - leading her brother, just returned from the war, to an act that will haunt not only both families but the entire town. Helget's novel is a story of loyalty and betrayal that proves her uncommon understanding of the natural world and human frailties. Both moving and heartfelt, The Turtle Catcher confirms this young writer's exceptional talent. New Germany, Minnesota, is home to German, Swedish, and Norwegian immigrants and has a tumultuous past, from Indian attacks on settlers to seething racism, particularly in the years surrounding WWI, the focus of this story. Leisl Richter is a strange, secretive, and independent young woman living in New Germany, and her would-be suitor is kind but slow Lester Sutter, brain damaged from his father’s beatings. Even as conflicting loyalties tear apart the German community, hatred seethes among other townsfolk, especially for prosperous farmer Wilhelm Richter, who’s always happy to buy foreclosed land and farm equipment. Historical fiction with a slight touch of magical realism, The Turtle Catcher is a moving portrait of difficult times and vividly realized characters. Winner of the Minnesota Monthly Tamarack Prize, judged by NPR’s Scott Simon, this appealing first novel will attract historical-fiction readers, especially in the Upper Midwest. --Jessica Moyer Born in 1976, NICOLE HELGET grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota, a childhood and place she drew on in the writing of her memoir, The Summer of Ordinary Ways. She received her BA and an MFA in creative writing from Minnesota State University, Mankato. She now lives with her family in Mankato, Minnesota. NPR’s Scott Simon awarded The Turtle Catcher the Tamarack Prize from Minnesota Monthly based on the novel’s first chapter. In the time just after the big war, when banks weren’t to be trusted and when snapper turtle stew, a cheap meal for the big families common in those days, bubbled on stovetops in farm kitchens, the three Richter brothers led Lester Sutter to the edge of Spider Lake to watch him drown through the sights of their rifles. They drove him in with the barrels of their guns and stood guard among the cattails as the water filled his boots and soaked his overalls. The rocks they’d stuffed and then stitched into his pockets sank him. Lester Sutter had earned this. Even if he wasn’t quite right in the mind, thought the brothers, he should have known better than to violate their sister. Only an hour before, Herman Richter, the middle brother, had ordered Liesel, the Richters’ only sister, to stay in the house. He directed his other brothers to hide in the grove and wait for Lester Sutter to come. He always came, Herman knew. Lester would linger at the edge of the grove until Liesel came out with the supper slops. He would slink around the oak trees. Sometimes he sat at the foot of a tree trunk and watched Liesel from afar. Sometimes he trailed back and forth, just a few feet behind her, as she bustled about the yard. When she’d whip around to face him and plant her hands on her hips, he’d turn around too, show her his back, and pretend to be studying some far-off cloud or tree. She usually smiled and returned to her work without scolding him. Liesel had always been far too permissive. Sometimes Lester approached her, and they talked. Of what, Herman had no idea. Lester Sutter was dense as pipe smoke. At times, Liesel put Lester to work hoeing in her garden or carrying heavy water pails from the well to the house. Though Liesel had insisted she didn’t mind Lester’s company, Herman did. He told her to stay away from Lester. But she hadn’t listened. And Lester got too close. Now here he was, splashing at the water’s edge, taking a few steps forward and then backing toward the shore, croaking like some amphibious animal and making this deed harder than it needed to be. “Get in the water, Lester,” Herman Richter yelled. His eyes were pale blue and his ears bright red. He spoke in English but with a slight German accent. The Richters’ papa, a German immigrant, spoke German but had learned English well and had insisted his children do the same. Lester Sutter turned to face the brothers on the shore. He worked out the meaning of the words and mouthed them with his thin and cracked lips. Then he imitated Herman Richter: “Get in ta water.” Herman fumed. He directed the tip of his gun back and forth between Lester’s chest and the middle of the lake. “Get in,” he said. “Get in,” repeated Lester.