How to describe this lovely story? Briefly, a beloved opinion columnist at a small town Minnesota newspaper has had a stroke. She's in a coma in the newspaper, probably one from which she'll never recover, and in the meantime, the editor of the paper has decided to reprint choice columns spanning her 5 decade long career, and some choice responses to her columns. One of those responses earned her the name she took in stride with the good humor she displayed throughout her entire life, as the writer called her a radical rag, because of her liberal leanings in her musings. The editor's teenage son spends many afternoons at the paper helping sort through the many articles, picking and choosing which ones should make the paper and we get to read everything from Haze's (the radical hag herself) very sadly brief 3 year marriage, she lost him to a massive heart attack, but it's obvious that the marriage was absolutely drenched in love, to her stance on abortion, all the way up to the modern day election. Maybe or maybe not luckily, she didn't have to see the outcome of that disaster. One of my favorite quotes from the book is "By bringing us into their own world, they bring us into the whole world," and I think that's the mark of a truly good columnist. She managed to relate whatever her subject was about, first to her own little corner of the world before expanding into a seemingly huge subject.

This book is extraordinary. It covers so many different people's lives but it shows how Haze, a truly radical hag, said with all the love a heart can hold, brought so many people together through her decades long writing career. Landvik has managed to truly bring this character off the page and make her larger than life, to the point where she seems more than just a fictional character. From heartbreak to adolescent awakening with a few delicious recipes thrown in, this book is a wonderland of written emotions. It's one of my favorite stories so far in 2019 and I'm sure it's going to stick with me for a good long while.

Thank you to NetGalley and the University of Minnesota Press for allowing me to read Chronicles of a Radical Hag (with recipes), by Lorna Landvik. What a delightful book. When Haze Evans starts writing her weekly advice column, with recipes, the editor of the Granite Creek Gazette, is always at odds with her. Little does he know that she will change the lives of everyone in this town. When Haze has a stroke, Susan McGrath, mother of Sam and recently separated from her husband, tries to write the column as Haze would want it written. With common sense and tasty recipes, she discovers that the power of her words and sometimes remaining silent, can have a powerful effect on people and herself. This is a heart-warming story about how people can come together and discover the good in each other. This is a delightful read.

cooking fiction brings out the hygge in me. There is something so cozy and comforting about a story that is wrapped in a cookbook or vice versa.

An enjoyable read with some charming moments. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

A few days ago, I finished Lorna Landvik’s Chronicles of a Radical Hag (With Recipes). This would be a case of Never Judge a Book by Its Cover. Or Its Title. For some reason, the flowers, leaves, and mortar and pestle on the cover made me think I was about to read a book about an actual hag, squirreled away in some forest mixing up healing ointments. I was taken to a completely different setting – small town Minnesota.

Haze is a columnist for a small, local paper who falls ill. In the meantime, the publisher’s teenage son rereads all her pieces, choosing the most emotionally or politically charged stories to reprint as the town waits for the favorite writer to return to her desk. The teenager, Sam, uncovers so much about history from the viewpoint of a woman who lived it, and as he learns about things like wars and their fallen soldiers, abortion rights, and romance (both of a pure and of an extramarital flavor), he develops his own literary voice. He’s not the only one touched by Haze’s columns. Many other residents feel her influence, even as she lays silent in a hospital bed.

Chronicles of a Radical Hag was charming and heartwarming without being too light and fluffy. The one aspect I wasn’t particularly fond of was the recipes. They didn’t seem to really fit with the articles written by Haze, let alone the overall tone of the book. I realize that the point was a tongue-in-cheek response to those readers (or should I say dissenters?) who complained that instead of writing about her radical ideas, she should share recipes, but reading a dessert recipe after reflecting about death or war just felt downright strange.

Haze Evans, a beloved newspaper columnist in a small town in Minnesota, has just had a stroke and is comatose in a local hospital. The paper decides to resurrect and reprint some of her past columns, and the letters readers had sent in response. The editor’s 14 year old son, Sam, despite his initial reluctance, is captivated by the columns, whose varied subjects ranged from nature to politics. A reader who wrote particularly biting letters criticizing her columns (and the one who initially referred to her as a “radical hag,”) was later eulogized by Haze in her column: “Whenever I’d receive a particularly critical letter (which most of them were) from Mr. Joseph Snell, I’d look up at the lovely Autumn Maples, [a painting] which hangs in my office. Sometimes I have a hard time squaring what came out of his pen versus what came out of his paintbrush, but I guess that’s because we’re all really puzzles inside enigmas inside mazes.” Landvik has created many such nuanced characters (the cranky old neighbor who has tragedy in his past; the high school students who are not the insensitive boors they seem on first observation, the woman who surprises herself by having a clandestine affair with a married man), and it’s these “puzzles inside enigmas inside mazes” that make the novel so enjoyable.

Considering the current state of journalism in this country, this novel comes at just the right time. Lorna Landvik gives applause to the true nature of small-town newspapers while creating a woman that we'd all love to call friend.

Landvik, a self-described author, entertainer and "antic dealer," tells the story of fictional Haze Evans, the first woman columnist for the Granite Gazette. When the columnist, now in her 80s, has a stroke, publisher Susan McGrath tries to fill the void by reprinting columns from Haze's more than 50 years of materials, complete with reader responses and the sometimes recipes (Haze's tongue-in-cheek tactic to calm down complainers). What the readers, writers and young'uns find is a practical approach to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

This quirky novel feels good. It captures the moments past and present that define a person, a community and a country. It draws from truth and fiction, and the end result is a "must-read" for anyone who appreciates the impact that the past has on the present. Landvik's publicists say it best, "... Chronicles of a Radical Hag reminds us ... of the power of words and of silence, as well as the wonder of finding in each other that we never even knew we were missing."

And to all the journalists and newspapers still active today, enjoy your day in the sun. Too soon you will be just another "radical hag."

ARC provided by NetGalley

Ian so grateful to University of Minnesota Press and Netgalley for giving me the chance to read this novel. I was not familiar with the author it the title intrigued me enough to request the ARC. What a great new find. If you have ever been a fan of the Jan Karon Mitford series or of Garrison Keillor, you will love this. It centers on a long time columnist for a local newspaper and the way her columns have impacted and are impacting the other characters in the book. It’s a beautiful and optimistic story and I wish I could meet some of these characters and make them friends. Highly recommend this title.

The last three months of 2018 were super busy for me, and although I always read books (no matter how busy I am), I didn’t take the time to record the fact that I had read those books, nor review them. Things have finally slowed down a bit, and I have been taking the opportunity to catch up on reviewing these books, which has required that I go back and reacquaint myself with the book, so that I can write about it accurately.

Well, I first read this book in early December of last year, and when I went back to look through it, and found myself rereading the whole thing—even though it had only been just over a month since i finished it the first time. That was how much I enjoyed it.

The book revolves around a small town newspaper columnist, Hazel (or Haze), who has had some sort of medical event, and is now in a coma in the hospital. The editor of the paper decides to rerun various columns from Haze”s 40 year history until she can recover and write new ones. The process of selecting the columns to rerun and the responses and reactions that those columns inspire in readers helps the people in this town stop and look more carefully at themselves and the people around them.

The novel is infused with a sense of decency and acceptance that was lovely to read, and lovely to return to after only a month’s time. Although tonally and structurally it is nothing like these books, the respect and good will that the author shows her characters reminded me of Kent Haruf’s Plainsong Trilogy. Both he and Landvik find humanity and empathy in everyday, unassuming characters that might not normally be subjects of a novel.

I highly recommend this book—I just wish my ARC had included the recipes as well. The names alone sounded tasty.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing an advanced reading copy.

This is a sweet book that will find appreciative readers in book clubs, especially those that include parents and their kids, or are for high-school students. When the long-time columnist--the 'Radical Hag' of the title, so-called by one of her detractors--of a paper in a small town has a stroke, the paper begins reprinting her old essays and the responses they provoked. The essays touch on everything from politics to gardening to theater to abortion, and are always personal and unique. People in the town and students at the local high school begin reading the old columns, and gain insights about themselves, their community, and their neighbors. While it was all a little too simple and tidy for me, a lot of people will enjoy this one. And the recipes are pretty good.

I read a few of Lorna Landvik's earlier novels and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I must say the same is true for this book. As soon as I picked it up, I knew I was going to fall in love with these wonderful characters. Haze, although she is in a coma, I truly got a feel of the kind of person she was just by reading her old newspaper articles. I also felt very endeared by Susan, who is struggling with her son and her marriage . This is a character driven novel, and I care deeply about these characters and how everything turned out for them. I plan to go back and see if I missed any of previous novels by this author on my reading journey. Thank you so much for my advanced copy. This book really made my weekend.

I have always loved the quirkiness of the books written by Lorna Landvik and I was thrilled when I got the chance to read an advance copy through Net Galley. This story did not disappoint, although I did love the characters in some of her other books more. Haze, the main character, back in her day as a writer for the small town newspaper and Sarah, who takes over for Haze, when she suffers a stroke. The best character in this story, in my opinion was Sarah's son Sam and how his perspective on life is changed and influenced by reading the old articles in the newspaper's archives. Thank you to the publisher, author and Net Galley for the opportunity.

Original and entertaining story drew me in from the beginning. I thought Haze was quite a successful character considering we only get to know her through the past and the parallel story lines worked well.

This was an ok book for me. Although i loved her previous books, this one did not quite have the charm those had in charming me.

Delighted to find a new book by Lorna Landvik. This was wonderful. Great characters terrific storytelling. I think this would be a great recommendation for Fanny Flagg and Rita Mae Brown readers. I loved the growth of the young boy and the intergenerational relationships. Wish my paper had a Radical Hag!

Recipes were interesting, but the book not so great overall. Wasn't what I was expecting......would not have purchased this book.

Maybe I was just not in a mood for this type of book but I really did not care for it. I have heard patrons say that they like her books so I will probably purchase it for the library. It was a small town in Minnesota but I really like the Mitford series by Jan Karon and this did not interest me the way her books do.

I started out thinking this was a little like "Mitford for Minnesotans." I love the sweet, gentle town and the familiar aspects (being a former Minnesota girl, myself). Further into the book, it turned, in a gentle way, to current events and politics. I loved getting perspective from both a teenage boy and an elderly woman.

The promise of recipes incorporated into the story will almost always lure me to buy a book. I would have liked a few more, but I truly appreciate those that were included.

Despite my enjoyment, I'm giving this a weak four, simply because I often review books to let my adult daughters know how I think they'd feel about the book, and I don't feel they'd appreciate this quite as much as I do.

Lorna Landvik’s newest novel is smart, funny, and intimate, with a terrifically memorable cast of small-town characters. Chronicles of a Radical Hag is a tribute to hardworking journalists, the power of feminism, and, as always, the importance of friends and family.

It was the great cover that caught my eyes first. Then I saw the name of the author and I just knew I was in for a treat. Earlier I had read Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons and I loved it. (I thought it was even better than The Ya-Ya Sisterhood although much less well known and talked about). So I had high hopes for the Chronicles and I was not disappointed.
The story runs along two parallel lines. One is the past in the form of Haze the main character's columns, diary entries etc. and the other one is the events of the here and now. Funnily enough we never meet Haze in the present as she is lying in hospital after a massive stroke. However, we get to know her from her reprinted columns and we can't but love her.
The reprinted columns change a lot of people's life. They have to face and revaluate certain things in their lives. These columns act as a catalyst for a lot of the characters around Haze. None of them are flawless, but still very loveable. By the end of the book I felt as if I had become part of a community in this small town. I can recommend this book to anyone who loves to immerse themselves into a good story beautifully written. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.