Review
"Henriksen's luminous debut, inspired by the life of her mother, follows a young woman as she comes of age during the Great Depression and WWII. A gifted horsewoman, 18-year-old Ruth Thompson leaves Lake Minnetonka, Minn., and her beau, Duke, in 1931 to earn college tuition money working as a "gypsy cowgirl" in the rodeo. For Ruth, rodeo life is filled with freedom and adventure--and it's also where she meets Rollie, a woman who begins Ruth's sexual awakening. Eight months later, she returns home and leaves for college, where she goes through the motions, living in a sorority house with rigid rules and attending social events with Duke, but soon realizes she doesn't fit in. When she meets another student, Gisela--French-educated, exotic, and beautiful--Ruth is smitten and they fall in love. Facing the inevitable breakup with Duke, a suspicious housemother, and fear of stigma and rejection by her family, Ruth falls into a severe depression. But the narrative ultimately takes a powerful, life-affirming turn. Henriksen's gorgeous settings and multilayered plot enrich the story. This is an inspiring, feel-good tale."
~Publisher's Weekly
"The Winter Loonis a compelling story of a woman's secrets, choices, and courage. Both tender and wise, Henriksen is a fine storyteller and her characters are skillfully drawn and memorable."
~Sandra Butler, award-winning writer, group facilitator and activist. sandrabutler.net. motheringdaughters.net.
"The Winter Loon is an ambitious, gripping, often painful story with a lot of drama and emotion, ups and downs and an ending that leaves the reader in satisfying tears." ~Alan Rinzler
"What a beautiful, thoughtful book. The Winter Loon offers up complex characters and issues, a multi-textured plot and lots of heart. I have felt wrapped in the cocoon of this beautiful love story." ~Alissa Lukara
From the Author
This fictional story is inspired by my mother, who died when I was nine and who had divulged very little information about her life, refusing even to answer any questions about my biological father. Estranged from her parents, brother, and uncles, she moved across the country from the Midwest to California, ending up in a remote area of the Mojave Desert far from the nearest town. From my earliest memories, the two of us lived as a family with her woman companion until shortly before her death. Some of the things she left behind were a few photos, a newspaper clipping of her as a rodeo competitor, and her master's degree certificate from the 1930s.
When I started writing, my purpose of embarking on a healing journey gradually transformed into this novel about a young woman who struggles to define herself in a world where she does not seem to fit. As I envisioned how my mother's life might have been if she was able to live her authentic truth, I realized how much, and how little, has changed for the LGBTQ community. It is my hope that this story about the healing power of love will positively influence anyone who reads it.
From the Inside Flap
Loon Migration
Every year before northern lakes freeze solitary loons, dressed in the camouflage of dull winter feathers, gather in groups to start their migration to winter on the open ocean where upon arrival they must quickly adjust to a new life that is extremely different from the freshwater lakes where they hatch. Even though loons are born with dormant glands that can filter salt, for some it can take time before the glands begin functioning. A new arrival at sea eases into the unfamiliar environment by drinking rainwater that dribbles along its beak or pools like a thin skin on the ocean's surface before mixing with the saltwater. In the absence of rain, a loon is forced to drink saltwater and eat briny fish, which can end its life if the glands have not sufficiently evolved. This filtering of salt is not a learned behavior, it is innate and essential for existence, and only those who adapt in time will survive.
From the Back Cover
The Winter Loon is a 2017 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist, a Self Publishing Review Book Awards Finalist, and is a B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree.
About the Author
Lori Henriksen is a debut author who worked as a social worker and licensed family therapist in San Francisco, California before turning to writing. She now lives in Oregon, surrounded by a forest where trails that weave through the trees follow and cross a creek with crashing waterfalls. When she isn't writing, Lori can be found hiking the forest with her rescue dogs, puttering in her garden, or out and about doing research for her next novel. More information and her blog can be found at lorihenriksen.com.
