Roman-fleuve
Red River, East Grand Forks, N.D. In the cramped seat of a plane flying back from a family vacation in Minnesota in July 2008, I created the three protagonists of the novels that would occupy me for the next twelve years. Siblings born in northern states who fan out across the country as they grow up, Line, Marty and Paul have a Scandinavian heritage and an openness to the world fueled by their parents and their generation. I began working full time on the novels in 2011 and in 2015, almost ten years ago, I was able to publish the first four. The final novel was published in 2020. Since publishing, I have had plenty of time to think about the context of this project as it stands. It isn’t perfect, of course, but I find I don’t want to change anything. It is what it is. A roman-fleuve , or “river novel” is an extended sequence of novels which continually deals with a central character, community or the saga of a family. The river metaphor suggests a steady, broad dynamic with an inh
