The Turtle Warrior

Set in a remote corner of Wisconsin, the Lucas family's story unfolds among working-class immigrants from Europe and members of the Ojibwe nation. By 1967 the family's farm has decayed under the weight of John Lucas's drinking, and his violence falls on his wife and their two sons. The eldest son, James, gets away by joining the army and heading to Vietnam, leaving his younger brother Bill to shield their mother. Bill has only his own resolve and his brother's spirit to lean on.

The novel ranges from the American heartland to the battlefields of the Second World War and Vietnam. Throughout, it blends the physical with the spiritual and moves between past and present, building a story in which these worlds run together.