Q Road

Book excerpt: The debut novel from the National Book Award-nominated author of American Salvage and The Waters—A Today Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick! Greenland Township, Michigan: On the same acres where farmers once displaced Potawatomi Indians, suburban developers now supplant farmers and prefab homes spring up in last year's cornfields. All along Q Road—or “Queer Road,” as the locals call it—the old, rural life collides weirdly with the new. With humor and empathy, Bonnie Jo Campbell reveals the beauty and strangeness of her characters—ferocious women, confused men, and hungry children. Offering keen insights into modern rural America, Campbell explores the rich and ragged landscape of a town where family traditions have flown the coop and only the cycle of the seasons remains. With a cast of lovingly rendered eccentrics and a powerful sense of place, Q Road is a lively tale of nature and human desire that alters the landscape of contemporary fiction.