Released just days ago, Andrew Graff鈥檚 second book True North, a 304-page novel, is quickly getting attention after receiving rave reviews in the Washington Post, Goodreads, Booklist, and Publisher鈥檚 Weekly.
Graff, associate professor of English and director of creative writing at Wittenberg, takes readers back to his childhood home in Wisconsin鈥檚 Northwoods in his new novel, but this time for an adventure in marriage and white-water rafting as one couple, Sam and Swami Brecht, navigate the changing currents of family, community, and the river itself.
His debut book, Raft of Stars, landed on the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association best-sellers list just five days after its publication, appearing in the No. 13 spot on a list that included renowned writers Kazuo Ishiguro, Kristin Hannah, Brit Bennett, Harlan Coben, Fredrik Backman, and Lisa Scottoline for the week ending March 28, 2021. The book was also selected as an Indie Next pick for April 2021, named one of 笔补谤补诲别鈥檚 Best Books for Spring 2021, and promoted as Lead Read by publisher Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins.
鈥淲hen I finished writing Raft of Stars, which takes place in the fictional Wisconsin county of Marigamie County, I knew I wanted to keep writing about the Northwoods,鈥� Graff said. 鈥�True North is that novel, and it was also an opportunity for me to explore several threads of my life. I鈥檓 a dad, a husband, and a whitewater raft guide. I鈥檝e had this long-lived daydream about buying a rafting company, a camper, and living the van life with my family, which is exactly what the lead character does in True North. The novel is a story about family, river adventure, small towns and what it takes to pull off a dream in peril.鈥�
While Raft of Stars focuses on a pair of 10-year-old boys who strike out on their own in northern Wisconsin, True North shifts to a hero who sometimes feels only slightly older. Book reviewer Ron Charles, who writes the Book Club newsletter for The Washington Post, describes Graff鈥檚 second novel as 鈥渁 vacation that we all need,鈥� adding that Graff鈥檚 work is also uplifting.
鈥淣eed to life your spirits? True North does the trick. In Andrew J. Graff鈥檚 novel, a man hatches a last-ditch plan to save his marriage and his finances,鈥� Charles wrote in his Washington Post review. 鈥淕raff鈥檚 warmhearted story about a summer of white-water rafting, sounds like the vacation we all need. Graff鈥檚 second novel offers just enough drama to be exciting and just enough reassurance that everybody will get home safe. In these bleak times, who can argue with that? Still shaken by Paul Lynch鈥檚 Booker-winning 鈥橮rophet Song,鈥� about a nation slipping into fascism, I was happy to run off for a spell in the Northwoods with Sam and his family. Given the paucity of hope and happiness in contemporary literary fiction, those feelings must be a lot harder to produce than irony and despair. If you鈥檙e looking for a story that lets grace finally wash over its characters, come on down. The water鈥檚 great.鈥�
Stephanie Turza of the Booklist affirms these sentiments, noting that the book 鈥淲ill appeal to anyone who can relate to giving everything you鈥檝e got to one last plan.鈥� And Publisher鈥檚 Weekly called the book 鈥淓xciting and intelligent ... Graff expertly balances his character-driven domestic fiction with an exciting adventure story.鈥�
Earning a B.A. in English from Lawrence University and an M.F.A. in English (Fiction) from the University of Iowa Writers鈥� Workshop, Graff joined the Wittenberg faculty in Fall 2020, where he teaches courses in composition and creative writing. He has also been a white-water rafting guide for 20 years on numerous rivers. Both of his books take place in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, where Graff grew up hiking and fishing, and where he returned after serving a tour in Afghanistan as a U.S. Air Force jet mechanic and finishing his education.
Graff marked the launch of his second book with an appearance at an event hosted by Boswell Book Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Jan. 16. He then returned to Wittenberg on Thursday, Jan. 18, for a book release party hosted by the English Department in Ness Auditorium in Hollenbeck Hall where he read from his newly published novel and signed copies after the event.
Available through HarperCollins Publishers, the book is on sale now .
