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The Disappearing Andersons of Loon Lake
Love, loss, irony and humor abound in the lives of eight families living around Loon Lake, a shallow fishing spot in Northern Michigan. Wells’ “use of language is like music,” critics says, while others call her writing “a rich and varied drug,” and these stories convey “a real sense of the contradiction and the ambivalence that goes on within the family circle…through writing that has a lyrical style.” Whether it’s the story of a young dreamer and a bully, a man looking forward to retirement and the family that stands in his way; a teacher facing ethical choices, or a family coping with disaster, these stories delight.
68 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 20, 2017
1 person is currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Jess Wells
23 books90 followersWells is the author of seven novels and five books of short stories. Her latest work, Dancing Through a Deluge is set in post-plague England, 1351, when a lapsed nun's mistaken identity offers her the dangerous chance to free indentured peasants.
Winner of the Nautilus Silver Prize, Jaguar Paloma and the Caketown Bar is set in 1865 when two extraordinary women establish a raucous trading post for cast-off women. Their mirth is challenged by a greedy mayor and a murderous forger. Reviewers are calling it “exquisitely written.”
She recently re-released The Mandrake Broom: When the Witches Fought Back, a historical novel dramatizing the fight to save medical knowledge during the witch-burning times in Europe, 1465-1540.
Her previous novel,
Straight Uphill: A Tale of Love and Chocolate, delves into five generations of women chocolatiers in a small Italian village. It recently won the Bronze Award for Adult Fiction/Romance from the Foreword Indies Awards 2020! Through the World Wars, back to the Age of Discovery and up to modern times, villagers on a small Italian hilltop struggle with a sense of purpose and the meanings of love. Critics call them “complex characters, vividly drawn” and “delightful proof that a literary novel can be a deeply satisfying page-turner.”
She also released audiobooks for several of her novels, and a collection of modern short stories: The Disappearing Andersons of Loon Lake is now available on Audible.com, Amazon.com and iTunes. DALL highlights life around a small lake in Northern Michigan.
A Slender Tether, is set in France in the 1300s. It dramatizes the early adulthood of Christine de Pizan, the first feminist and first woman to make her living as a writer.
She blogs at at http://www.jesswells.com/
She is a recipient of a San Francisco Arts Commission Grant for Literature, a four-time finalist for the national Lambda Literary Award, and a member of the Saints & Sinners Literary Hall of Fame. Her work has appeared in more than three dozen literary journals and anthologies, has been reprinted in England and translated into Italian.
Winner of the Nautilus Silver Prize, Jaguar Paloma and the Caketown Bar is set in 1865 when two extraordinary women establish a raucous trading post for cast-off women. Their mirth is challenged by a greedy mayor and a murderous forger. Reviewers are calling it “exquisitely written.”
She recently re-released The Mandrake Broom: When the Witches Fought Back, a historical novel dramatizing the fight to save medical knowledge during the witch-burning times in Europe, 1465-1540.
Her previous novel,
Straight Uphill: A Tale of Love and Chocolate, delves into five generations of women chocolatiers in a small Italian village. It recently won the Bronze Award for Adult Fiction/Romance from the Foreword Indies Awards 2020! Through the World Wars, back to the Age of Discovery and up to modern times, villagers on a small Italian hilltop struggle with a sense of purpose and the meanings of love. Critics call them “complex characters, vividly drawn” and “delightful proof that a literary novel can be a deeply satisfying page-turner.”
She also released audiobooks for several of her novels, and a collection of modern short stories: The Disappearing Andersons of Loon Lake is now available on Audible.com, Amazon.com and iTunes. DALL highlights life around a small lake in Northern Michigan.
A Slender Tether, is set in France in the 1300s. It dramatizes the early adulthood of Christine de Pizan, the first feminist and first woman to make her living as a writer.
She blogs at at http://www.jesswells.com/
She is a recipient of a San Francisco Arts Commission Grant for Literature, a four-time finalist for the national Lambda Literary Award, and a member of the Saints & Sinners Literary Hall of Fame. Her work has appeared in more than three dozen literary journals and anthologies, has been reprinted in England and translated into Italian.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 16, 2018
The Disappearing Andersons of Loon Lake by Jess Wells is a compelling collection of stories, narrated by the author, stories that have the same setting in Loon Lake. One gets the impression that this is a book about a place, but it features very interesting characters and covers a variety of themes — love and loss, family dynamics, conflicts, etc. The first story - “Letters from the Land of Plenty” - opens with the Elder, Carlos the Leader, the Time Keeper, the dispenser of government checks, losing the last fragment of the village’s only hymnal, a piece that has been kept in the cantina, like most of the good things in the village. But how did this man become the laughing stock of the entire village? The reader is already introduced to the theme of change and gets a deep sense that things can never be the way they used to be in this village. The eight stories featured in this collection are an interesting ride alongside compelling characters.
There is an array of subjects in this narrative, with stories that involve family and marriage, bullying, making serious choices, and tragedy in a family. From the clear and compelling voice of the author comes a narrative that will arrest the attention of any good listener. The writing has something lyrical about it, a poetic quality that will strongly resonate in the heart of the reader. The beauty of the language combines with the author’s sense of setting to create a world that readers can quickly escape to. This book contains the kinds of stories you can listen to anywhere — you can listen to them on your couch, in the quiet moments in your room, or in your car while driving. The Disappearing Andersons of Loon Lake is a sweet little gift, a gem for fans of short stories. The stories are interesting, but it is the characters that will stay with readers long after they are done listening to them.
There is an array of subjects in this narrative, with stories that involve family and marriage, bullying, making serious choices, and tragedy in a family. From the clear and compelling voice of the author comes a narrative that will arrest the attention of any good listener. The writing has something lyrical about it, a poetic quality that will strongly resonate in the heart of the reader. The beauty of the language combines with the author’s sense of setting to create a world that readers can quickly escape to. This book contains the kinds of stories you can listen to anywhere — you can listen to them on your couch, in the quiet moments in your room, or in your car while driving. The Disappearing Andersons of Loon Lake is a sweet little gift, a gem for fans of short stories. The stories are interesting, but it is the characters that will stay with readers long after they are done listening to them.
May 8, 2018
I loved this.
I'm a lover of short fiction (as I'm sure everyone is already aware) and having loved Jess Wells's other works (especially A Slender Tether), this was an instant choice for me, and perfectly timed. It became a wonderful companion on an overnight flight to the UK.
Often in collections, the stories might touch each other thematically, but sometimes not even that comes together. Not so in The Disappearing Andersons of Loon Lake, where each story was a lovely complement to those that came before. I caught myself with a little smile on my face at the end of most of the tales: there's a gentle humour at play here, and—again—while flying across the ocean, it was a welcome respite indeed.
I listened to this book on audiobook, so I should add that it's such a joy to listen to a book narrated by the author when the author is so gifted at performance.
I'm a lover of short fiction (as I'm sure everyone is already aware) and having loved Jess Wells's other works (especially A Slender Tether), this was an instant choice for me, and perfectly timed. It became a wonderful companion on an overnight flight to the UK.
Often in collections, the stories might touch each other thematically, but sometimes not even that comes together. Not so in The Disappearing Andersons of Loon Lake, where each story was a lovely complement to those that came before. I caught myself with a little smile on my face at the end of most of the tales: there's a gentle humour at play here, and—again—while flying across the ocean, it was a welcome respite indeed.
I listened to this book on audiobook, so I should add that it's such a joy to listen to a book narrated by the author when the author is so gifted at performance.
March 29, 2018
Reviewed By Sefina Hawke for Readers’ Favorite
The Disappearing Andersons of Loon Lake, written and narrated by Jess Wells, is a two-hour short story collection audio book that would appeal most to a mixed audience of young adults and adults who enjoy short stories that all share a common setting and a mix of different themes and characters. The audio book is made up of eight short stories which are: Letters from the Land of Plenty, The Witness, The Disappearing Andersons, Soulmates, Dinner with Dad, The Roses, The Last Excursion, and Monopoly. Each short story is about a different family that lives around an area in Northern Michigan called Loon Lake.
The Disappearing Andersons of Loon Lake by Jess Wells is a well written and produced audio book. I loved how the author managed to truly capture the feelings different people might have living in a small community. Each of the characters felt like real people instead of fictional characters, which made me wonder if the author had based some of them on real people, or if the stories themselves were inspired by true events. The author’s use of figurative language throughout the stories was beautifully chosen in order to evoke real emotions and to allow me to picture the events in my mind as they unfolded. Overall, I felt like the audio book was an emotional roller coaster with how each story provoked different emotions from me.
The author, Jess Wells, performed the narration of The Disappearing Andersons of Loon Lake with remarkable talent. Often authors fail at successfully narrating their own books as they narrate more for themselves than for their audience, but that was not the case with this audio book. Jess Wells might be new to audio book narration, but I would never have been able to tell from her performance as she truly succeeded in making the words come alive for me. I hope to hear her narrate more of her books, or books written by other authors in the future, as she truly knows how to use her voice to draw the listener deeper into the story with every word she speaks!
The Disappearing Andersons of Loon Lake, written and narrated by Jess Wells, is a two-hour short story collection audio book that would appeal most to a mixed audience of young adults and adults who enjoy short stories that all share a common setting and a mix of different themes and characters. The audio book is made up of eight short stories which are: Letters from the Land of Plenty, The Witness, The Disappearing Andersons, Soulmates, Dinner with Dad, The Roses, The Last Excursion, and Monopoly. Each short story is about a different family that lives around an area in Northern Michigan called Loon Lake.
The Disappearing Andersons of Loon Lake by Jess Wells is a well written and produced audio book. I loved how the author managed to truly capture the feelings different people might have living in a small community. Each of the characters felt like real people instead of fictional characters, which made me wonder if the author had based some of them on real people, or if the stories themselves were inspired by true events. The author’s use of figurative language throughout the stories was beautifully chosen in order to evoke real emotions and to allow me to picture the events in my mind as they unfolded. Overall, I felt like the audio book was an emotional roller coaster with how each story provoked different emotions from me.
The author, Jess Wells, performed the narration of The Disappearing Andersons of Loon Lake with remarkable talent. Often authors fail at successfully narrating their own books as they narrate more for themselves than for their audience, but that was not the case with this audio book. Jess Wells might be new to audio book narration, but I would never have been able to tell from her performance as she truly succeeded in making the words come alive for me. I hope to hear her narrate more of her books, or books written by other authors in the future, as she truly knows how to use her voice to draw the listener deeper into the story with every word she speaks!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews