The Lighthouse Road

"The Lighthouse Road is a cinematic thundercloud gusting across the northern landscape Peter Geye so clearly loves. With its conflicted heroes and their seafaring, bootlegging, lumber-camp agonies, this book understands hard work and heartbreak -- it takes no shortcuts but delivers its cargo in generous style, a tale wrapped in blizzards and viewed through the glass eye of history." -Leif Enger

"There are little treasures of surprises in the book but Geye saved the best of last in this one - the final paragraphs left me gaping. Kudos, Peter Geye; I love an ending I never saw coming!
This is a book I would recommend to men and women alike. [Geye] has quickly become one of my favorite authors, a storyteller who does not disappoint, with the ability to tell more than one kind of story."-LitandLife

"No author today writes from a sense of place as brilliantly as Peter Geye. Geye's The Lighthouse Road takes place in a broodingly atmospheric Northern Minnesota, peopled by tragic characters so influenced by their unforgiving environment, they can't recognize love when they see it. This is a story that lingers long after you turn the last page."-Melanie Benjamin, author of Alice I Have Been

"In superbly eloquent and mesmerizing prose, Geye brings us a novel with a story and writing that will blow you away. Unbridled Books has a special talent on their hands with Peter Geye." -Annie Philbrick, Bank Square Books

"...my wife and I have been fighting over a galley of Peter Geye's forthcoming novel, The Lighthouse Road. (Far as I'm concerned, Peter Geye is doing for Minnesota what Hemingway did for Michigan, what Kent Haruf did for Colorado, and what Melville did for whales.)"-Matthew Batt, in an interview on MinnesotaReads.com

"We've all appreciated books set in America 's western frontier because of the way that hardship reveals the extremes of human nature. In The Lighthouse Road, I was captivated by the portrayal of the main characters. I was chilled by the vivid descriptions of the logging camp and Lake Superior. But most of all, what great storytelling. I slowed down reading to try to make the book last longer, even as I stayed up through the night to find consolation. Thank you for putting this treasure into my hands."-Anne Storan, Paragraphs Books

"To be submerged in the frothing, watery world of Peter Geye's The Lighthouse Road is to be baptized anew in the promise of American letters. I defy you to bear witness to the tormented tenderness of Odd Eide, to suffer and love and row beside him in his skiff, without throwing down your nets. Here is an epic that spans more than generations. Here is an epic that spans the topography between hell-dark bear dens and moonlit lake water. Here is a novel that charts the whole of the human heart." -Bruce Machart, author of The Wake of Forgiveness

"With Safe From the Sea, Peter Geye quickly became a store favorite, and we were wondering how in the world he was going to follow it up -- sophomore slump and all of that. The good news? THE LIGHTHOUSE ROAD is terrific, the kind of book we love here at the store: fully imagined, a book that manages to simultaneously dislodge you historically while remaining familiar on account of the emotional urgency felt by the characters. Geye is writing spectacular fiction, and breezed right by that sophomore slump with this terrific novel. Three cheers for Peter Geye; three cheers for THE LIGHTHOUSE ROAD." -Ethan Rutherford, Magers & Quinn

"The Lighthouse Road is a small marvel of a book. The story is set in northern Minnesota in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and Geye's expert rendering of a time long past -- the brutality of backwoods logging camps, the heartbreak of an era when immigration meant never going home again, the logistics of whiskey-running -- is matched by the complexity and depth of his characters. A beautifully written, elegantly constructed novel."-Emily St. John Mandel

"Peter Geye writes with the mesmerizing power of the snowstorms that so often come howling off Lake Superior. I am in awe of how he swirls through so many years and juggles so many characters, all of them unforgettable and weighed down by secrets and regrets and desires that burn through the hoarfrost of Geye's bristling sentences."-Benjamin Percy

"The Lighthouse Road is exciting, moving, surprising, and original. I highly recommend it for individual enjoyment and for lively book club discussions." --Nancy Simpson Brice, Book Vault

"The idea of encapsulating any good novel in two or three sentences is silly. Good novels are all similar in one way: they are messy. And complicated. The simple facts of this book contain whiskey, an apothecary, fish and boats. Peter Geye, in The Lighthouse Road has created a world that is great fun to inhabit for however many, or few, hours it takes."-Hans Weyandt, Micawber's Books

"Peter Geye is a real talent. I always have a special respect for writers who can capture a sense of place. He reminds me of the good books by Ivan Doig and Leif Enger, with some of the classic old men of the sea thrown in....An intricate narrative perfectly balanced and hand-carved, not unlike Odd's boat."-Geoffrey Jennings, Next Chapter Bookshop

"A beautifully rendered tale of the north shore. Odd's and Thea's stories were woven together with skill, making the book both complex and interesting. Peter's use of period style and vernacular also impressed. This is yet another book from Unbridled that we will champion upon it's release."-Chris Livingston, The Book Shelf

"Upon receiving an advance copy of Peter Geye's second novel I opened it with a smile on my face and he didn't disappoint . . .Geye's writing is so vivid one is transported to the cold, lonely shores of Lake Superior. His ability to bring his characters to life is awesome. This is a novel that held me long after I finished the last pages."-Sue Richardson, Maine Coast Book Shop

"The hurts and burdens of the past as well as the cold and unforgiving north country conspire against the happiness of the beautifully drawn characters in Peter Geye's latest novel, The Lighthouse Road. Even on a journey to a new town in a specially crafted boat, Rebekah and Odd cannot escape the past. People are not always what they seem in this story and outcomes cannot be predicted. The women characters are compelling and show Geye's increasing skill and versatility."-Vicki Erwin, Main Street Books

"The Lighthouse Road is a story I will never forget. Peter Geye has created a story over multiple generations that will pull at your heart strings. He has built characters who you will learn to love in the first few chapters. The language in this book is simply poetic - using words you would never hear in our modern world. Geye's characters have a tragic beauty to them, as do the weather and climate of the north shore of Lake Superior - which Geye describes with perfection. Although this story takes place during the turn-of-the-century America, there are themes that are so very relatable in today - making impossible choices, regrets, and unconditional love being just a few. Living in a small town on Lake Superior, I could see many of these characters in my very own community. This story will sit with you for hours (if not days) after you've read it. Peter definitely possesses the gift of being able to bring his characters to life, and I am so very grateful to have read this story."-Kristen Sandstrom, Apostle Island Booksellers

"The Lighthouse Road is a gracefully structured novel set in a northern Minnesota frontier town. Alternating between harsh logging camps in the 1890's and a whiskey running outfit in the 1920's, Geye tells the story of Thea Eide, a Norwegian immigrant who dies in childbirth, and her orphan son, Odd, who becomes a solemn fisherman and whiskey runner. As affecting as it is cruel, this sorrowful novel is a satisfying read."-Shane Papendorf, Boswell Book Company

"In his second novel, Peter Geye proves that his grasp of the dramatic landscapes of Northern Minnesota are bested only by his conveyance of how those landscapes impact the people who populate them. Hardened by fierce weather, logging camp life, and wild animals, made more so by their own choices. Such is the crisply told tale of orphaned fisherman Odd Eide and the friends and family who influence his every decision, especially the most difficult ones that relate to love and loss. I absolutely loved Geye's first novel, Safe from the Sea, and this one is even better."-Stacie M. Williams, Boswell Book Company

"Just when I wondered if Peter could top Safe from the Sea (which I loved), along comes this terrific new story from the logging camps of the Gunflint in northern Minnesota. Spanning the years from the 1890s and ending in 1937, this tells the story of Odd Eide and his "family." Dark secrets set against a harsh landscape will put you in mind of an Ingmar Berman film." -Susie Fruncillo, Lake Country Booksellers

"The Lighthouse Road is remarkable for its incredible description of immigrant life in the United States at the turn of the 20th century, and the complexity and depth of the characters shaped by the very harsh conditions and landscapes they live in and also by the dark secrets of their past and their longings for a better life."-Pierre Camey, Schuler Books

"A novel of scandal and ice, The Lighthouse Road is an exceptional work. Historical fiction has a new contender, and his name is Peter Geye. His second novel is a tale of love, betrayal, hope, and loss. It runs the gamut of human emotion, immersing the reader into a complicated relationship between an older woman and a younger man in the 1890s. I guarantee most readers will close the book with a bang and immediately pick up the phone to call someone to talk about it. Perfect for book clubs!"-Jessilynn Norcross, McLean and Eakin Booksellers