The novel has been out since February, and I've done a number of events in person and online, as well as interviews on radio and book clubs on Zoom. Unsurprisingly, since a good portion of the novel is set in Port Townsend, it's been very popular with locals and there's always a waiting list to read at our library. I'm still having interesting conversations with people about things they didn't know about Port Townsend, including the existence of a large and thriving population of Chinese who lived here in the last decades of the nineteenth century. I also get asked which house Dagny Bergland, the narrator of the story, lived in (the house is invented but some of the Victorian homes on Morgan Hill with a view of Admiralty Strait were inspirations). Although parts of the novel also take place in Seattle, Alaska, and Norway, it's the Port Townsend settings that really seem to stir the most interest. "I can see Dagny and Edward on Lawrence Street," they tell me. It's a wonderful feeling when I hear that readers can visualize the bustling wharves on Water Street and the more refined churches and shops in Uptown and see my characters walking past them!
I've also had the chance to hear from Sámi-Americans about their family experiences of immigration to the US. One memorable event took place at the Nordic Museum in Seattle, where I spoke with Amy Swanson King, herself a descendant of Sámi immigrants and an active member of the Pacific Sámi Searvi in the Northwest. I've been happy to contribute to a stronger sense of this historic and contemporary community.
See you in Bellingham!
