The Beet Queen

On a spring morning in 1932, young Karl and Mary Adare arrive by boxcar in Argus, North Dakota. After being orphaned in a most peculiar way, they seek refuge in the butcher shop of their aunt Fritzie and her husband, Pete; ordinary Mary, who will cause a miracle, and seductive Karl, who lacks his sister’s gift for survival, embark upon an exhilarating life-journey crowded with colorful, unforgettable characters and marked by the extraordinary magic of natural events. The Beet Queen explores the tenacity of relationships, the magic of natural events, and the unending mystery of the human condition. “A remarkable and luminous novel.”-Michiko Kakutani, New York Times