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North of Hope
“Hassler’s brilliance has always been his ability to achieve the depth of real literature through such sure-handed, no-gimmicks, honest language that the result appears effortless.”
—Richard Russo, New York Times Book Review
“Hassler has tapped every pulse with his pen. This is his sixth novel, and it is great.”
— Detroit Free Press
Master storyteller Jon Hassler draws us into the vividly rendered, emotionally charged world of Father Frank Healy, a priest hoping to reawaken a vocation that he fears is leaking away. Working at a mission on an Ojibway reservation in Northern Minnesota, Frank unexpectedly encounters his old high school girlfriend, Libby, and is swept up in a gripping drama of temptation, crime, and love that shows him how wounded hearts are healed. This absorbing novel, among Hassler’s finest, is a beautifully told tale of blighted spirits restored by the power of hope.
—Richard Russo, New York Times Book Review
“Hassler has tapped every pulse with his pen. This is his sixth novel, and it is great.”
— Detroit Free Press
Master storyteller Jon Hassler draws us into the vividly rendered, emotionally charged world of Father Frank Healy, a priest hoping to reawaken a vocation that he fears is leaking away. Working at a mission on an Ojibway reservation in Northern Minnesota, Frank unexpectedly encounters his old high school girlfriend, Libby, and is swept up in a gripping drama of temptation, crime, and love that shows him how wounded hearts are healed. This absorbing novel, among Hassler’s finest, is a beautifully told tale of blighted spirits restored by the power of hope.
688 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
3 people are currently reading
490 people want to read
About the author
Jon Hassler
33 books115 followersJon Hassler was born in Minneapolis, but spent his formative years in the small Minnesota towns of Staples and Plainview, where he graduated from high school. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from St. John's University in 1955. While teaching English at three different Minnesota high schools, he received his Master of Arts degree in English from the University of North Dakota in 1960. He continued to teach at the high school level until 1965, when he began his collegiate teaching career: first at Bemidji State University, then Brainerd Community College (now called Central Lakes College), and finally at Saint John's, where he became the Writer-in-Residence in 1980.
During his high-school teaching years, Hassler married and fathered three children. His first marriage lasted 25 years. He had two more marriages; the last was to Gretchen Kresl Hassler.
In 1994, Hassler was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, a disease similar to Parkinson's. It caused vision and speech problems, as well as difficulty walking, but he was able to continue writing. He was reported to have finished a novel just days before his death. Hassler died in 2008, at the age of 74, at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.[1]
The Jon Hassler Theater in Plainview, Minnesota, is named for him.
During his high-school teaching years, Hassler married and fathered three children. His first marriage lasted 25 years. He had two more marriages; the last was to Gretchen Kresl Hassler.
In 1994, Hassler was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, a disease similar to Parkinson's. It caused vision and speech problems, as well as difficulty walking, but he was able to continue writing. He was reported to have finished a novel just days before his death. Hassler died in 2008, at the age of 74, at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.[1]
The Jon Hassler Theater in Plainview, Minnesota, is named for him.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews
November 16, 2017
Some of the best parts of the book are found in the quiet little corners, humorous or profound asides where ordinary people are allowed their thoughts, musings or dreams.
One particularly poignant scene involves, ‘Loving-Kindness’, the actual nick-name of the aging monsignor, who mistakenly answers a phone call from a woman not meant for him. Their conversation is at cross-purposes and priceless. Hassler is the master of innocent little gems where characters are both touched but not in the way either intended and yet you sense it is exactly the way Someone Else did. They tend to be subtle and the careful reader is well-rewarded.
I also loved the fast moving dialogue, the distinct and varied personalities, the synchronization of events and especially the harsh setting of the vast Northern landscape, which almost seems to take on a life of its own, sometimes silent, other times stormy, yet ever present.
Although initially I was intimidated by the book's size, once I got into it, I wanted it to be even thicker. Well, let us be honest, I hoped I could stay there, that the book would never end. Very absorbing read.
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Wow this book is THICK! Ha! I must be getting old ... judging my books by size rather than by content.
Updated for grammar: November 16, 2017
One particularly poignant scene involves, ‘Loving-Kindness’, the actual nick-name of the aging monsignor, who mistakenly answers a phone call from a woman not meant for him. Their conversation is at cross-purposes and priceless. Hassler is the master of innocent little gems where characters are both touched but not in the way either intended and yet you sense it is exactly the way Someone Else did. They tend to be subtle and the careful reader is well-rewarded.
I also loved the fast moving dialogue, the distinct and varied personalities, the synchronization of events and especially the harsh setting of the vast Northern landscape, which almost seems to take on a life of its own, sometimes silent, other times stormy, yet ever present.
Although initially I was intimidated by the book's size, once I got into it, I wanted it to be even thicker. Well, let us be honest, I hoped I could stay there, that the book would never end. Very absorbing read.
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Wow this book is THICK! Ha! I must be getting old ... judging my books by size rather than by content.
Updated for grammar: November 16, 2017
September 18, 2011
It's difficult to write a story about a priest — particularly one that depicts him displaying a very human and lifelong attraction to a member of the opposite sex — without descending into the smarmy or, just as bad, the sanctimonious. But in "North of Hope," Jon Hassler pulls it off. Those worried that Hassler does not treat the priesthood with respect should note that one edition of this book is published by Loyola Classics, a Jesuit ministry.
That Hassler succeeds is no surprise to readers who know him. Through a dozen novels (OK, perhaps a couple were slim enough to be called novellas) he took a fair, funny, loving, sometimes stark but always very human look at Minnesotans, specifically, northern Minnesotans. His characters often are lovable but are imperfect.
"North of Hope" is one of those books you feel much better about when it ends than while you are negotiating its interior. It really got to me, even as, here and there, I wondered, "Is it really his best book, as many say?" I still can't make that call; his debut, "Staggerford," might be as entertaining, and I'm only six novels into my Hassler journey, after all. But the novel is a very good one; in time, your heart cozies up to it.
The book gives the initial impression that it is 500-plus pages of will-they-or-won't-they: Frank Healy, a 44-year-old Catholic priest, reconnects with "the one" from his teen years as her third marriage gets rockier. But there really are surprising layers to this story. Hassler digs so deeply into this tale and spreads the net wide enough that I sometimes wondered whether he had shortchanged the Frank/Libby relationship.
As a teen, Frank, motherless, got all tingly at the sight of Libby, and they were close friends despite Libby's decision to look elsewhere for romance (and getting unexpectedly pregnant) in the first of her unfortunate marriages. Frank is doted on by his priest, Father Lawrence, and Lawrence's housekeeper, and, hearing that his mother made deathbed wishes for him to become a priest, naturally turns his gentle, quiet nature in that direction. His decision never is one of resignation, but his feelings for Libby hover like a floater you see at the edge of your vision.
Frank finds himself springing a midlife "leak" at his first parish, unable to complete his sermons. Downsizing as an associate pastor to Father Lawrence — now Monsignor Lawrence — with responsibilities at an Ojibway reservation, a mission church in tiny Basswood, Frank starts to find himself. Enter Libby, after 20-some years, back into his life, exiled to Basswood with her disgraced doctor husband who is a drug supplier on the side. Libby's daughter, in her mid-20s, is a wild child fighting her own battle. Hassler weaves in Native Americans struggling to keep their town alive while battling drugs and alcoholism, Frank's attempts to reach his flock while supporting the monsignor in his slow fade and dealing with the monsignor's new housekeeper, figuring out his feelings for Libby and trying to rescue Libby's daughter from her bad decisions and the trouble forced upon her. As one might glean, there is less humor afoot than is typical for Hassler, but that approach suits the tale.
Hassler puts you smack-dab in a northern Minnesota winter until your toes are numb and you're rubbing warmth into your face. Puts us among all these people who are "north of hope" but fighting for a better life, some morally bankrupt, some helplessly self-destructive, some good but struggling anyway. It's a wonderful book. Hassler brings home the Frank/Libby dilemma with panache, and this alternately hopeful and sad book and its characters creak and crack sometimes like the frozen lake the people drive over, but ultimately, it holds solid.
That Hassler succeeds is no surprise to readers who know him. Through a dozen novels (OK, perhaps a couple were slim enough to be called novellas) he took a fair, funny, loving, sometimes stark but always very human look at Minnesotans, specifically, northern Minnesotans. His characters often are lovable but are imperfect.
"North of Hope" is one of those books you feel much better about when it ends than while you are negotiating its interior. It really got to me, even as, here and there, I wondered, "Is it really his best book, as many say?" I still can't make that call; his debut, "Staggerford," might be as entertaining, and I'm only six novels into my Hassler journey, after all. But the novel is a very good one; in time, your heart cozies up to it.
The book gives the initial impression that it is 500-plus pages of will-they-or-won't-they: Frank Healy, a 44-year-old Catholic priest, reconnects with "the one" from his teen years as her third marriage gets rockier. But there really are surprising layers to this story. Hassler digs so deeply into this tale and spreads the net wide enough that I sometimes wondered whether he had shortchanged the Frank/Libby relationship.
As a teen, Frank, motherless, got all tingly at the sight of Libby, and they were close friends despite Libby's decision to look elsewhere for romance (and getting unexpectedly pregnant) in the first of her unfortunate marriages. Frank is doted on by his priest, Father Lawrence, and Lawrence's housekeeper, and, hearing that his mother made deathbed wishes for him to become a priest, naturally turns his gentle, quiet nature in that direction. His decision never is one of resignation, but his feelings for Libby hover like a floater you see at the edge of your vision.
Frank finds himself springing a midlife "leak" at his first parish, unable to complete his sermons. Downsizing as an associate pastor to Father Lawrence — now Monsignor Lawrence — with responsibilities at an Ojibway reservation, a mission church in tiny Basswood, Frank starts to find himself. Enter Libby, after 20-some years, back into his life, exiled to Basswood with her disgraced doctor husband who is a drug supplier on the side. Libby's daughter, in her mid-20s, is a wild child fighting her own battle. Hassler weaves in Native Americans struggling to keep their town alive while battling drugs and alcoholism, Frank's attempts to reach his flock while supporting the monsignor in his slow fade and dealing with the monsignor's new housekeeper, figuring out his feelings for Libby and trying to rescue Libby's daughter from her bad decisions and the trouble forced upon her. As one might glean, there is less humor afoot than is typical for Hassler, but that approach suits the tale.
Hassler puts you smack-dab in a northern Minnesota winter until your toes are numb and you're rubbing warmth into your face. Puts us among all these people who are "north of hope" but fighting for a better life, some morally bankrupt, some helplessly self-destructive, some good but struggling anyway. It's a wonderful book. Hassler brings home the Frank/Libby dilemma with panache, and this alternately hopeful and sad book and its characters creak and crack sometimes like the frozen lake the people drive over, but ultimately, it holds solid.
February 5, 2022
This is another Hassler work I missed reviewing somehow. I loved this one for different reasons than Staggerford and think it's the one where Hassler most fully wrestles with Catholicism and issues of faith. It's a work that will stand the test of time.
July 25, 2011
Lovely. Jon Hassler is sort of the Richard Russo of Northern Minnesota.
I would happily have read an entire book about these characters as teenagers. I was just so charmed by the Linden Falls of 1950, but Hassler had a different story to tell. After introducing us to Frank and Libby as youngsters, he jumps forward 25 years to examine the ways in which life choices at the age of 17 or 18 determine what our lives will look like at middle age.
I fell in love with Father Frank Healy in somewhat the same way I fell in love with Father Melancholy in Gail Godwin's novel. While I don't share their religious beliefs or dedication to ritual, I do admire some clerics for their devotion to service. What stands out most boldly about Frank is not his Catholicism, but his willingness to BE THERE, any time, any place, for anyone who needs him. He offers steadfast friendship, money, protection, nonjudgmental advice, humor, and most of all, HOPE.
After a dreadful winter, Libby says to Frank, "It's like hope doesn't reach this far north." To which Frank replies, "But it does, Libby. Hope goes wherever you want it to." To me, that is Frank's purpose in the lives of his parishioners. He is hope incarnate.
I would happily have read an entire book about these characters as teenagers. I was just so charmed by the Linden Falls of 1950, but Hassler had a different story to tell. After introducing us to Frank and Libby as youngsters, he jumps forward 25 years to examine the ways in which life choices at the age of 17 or 18 determine what our lives will look like at middle age.
I fell in love with Father Frank Healy in somewhat the same way I fell in love with Father Melancholy in Gail Godwin's novel. While I don't share their religious beliefs or dedication to ritual, I do admire some clerics for their devotion to service. What stands out most boldly about Frank is not his Catholicism, but his willingness to BE THERE, any time, any place, for anyone who needs him. He offers steadfast friendship, money, protection, nonjudgmental advice, humor, and most of all, HOPE.
After a dreadful winter, Libby says to Frank, "It's like hope doesn't reach this far north." To which Frank replies, "But it does, Libby. Hope goes wherever you want it to." To me, that is Frank's purpose in the lives of his parishioners. He is hope incarnate.
May 15, 2022
It's never too late to discover a thoughtful writer. Minnesota native Jon Hassler, noted for his stories set in Minnesota small towns, somehow escaped my reading all these years. He passed away in 2008, age 74, author of numerous well-regarded novels. I found his 1990 book, North of Hope and am so glad I did. The New York Times refers to Hassler as "the Catholic novelist" and indeed this is the focus of North of Hope, set in the scrubby jackpine country well north of Minneapolis. In quiet, beautiful prose Hassler deftly explores the themes of love of a woman vs. love of God and the power of hope through his memorable main character Father Frank Healy. In high school, Frank, an altar boy, do-gooder, a loner/outsider, is already leaning to becoming a priest when he meets and befriends Libby, a beautiful, but impulsive girl who moves from Minneapolis with her mother and abusive father. Frank and Libby become soul mates but move on to their separate paths. Twenty-three years later, they meet again. Libby needs Frank's help after three disastrous marriages and dealing with a deeply unstable daughter. Frank's work as a priest/teacher in a small, local high school/seminary has just ended due to the facility closing and he is thrust into parish work, for which he feels ill-prepared. Hassler's portrayal of the long cold, dark Minnesota winter's effect on his authentic, vulnerable characters from rural/small town and Native American backgrounds is grounded in personal observations, compassion and humor. Life is tough and hard scrabble in the North where drugs and alcohol can take over when hope and faith are not forthcoming for his characters. The story is a page turner, with resolution that does not appear until the beautifully executed final paragraph. Hassler's portrayal of the priest's daily life, moral and ethical challenges rings true and reflects his own Catholic faith and work as a teacher/writer-in-residence at St. John's University in Minnesota. I hope to read more of his work.
March 25, 2013
Ask any fiction writers to name their favorite authors, and Jon Hassler’s name might very well be mentioned. This Minnesota writer’s first novel, Staggerford, has become so revered in writers’ circles since its 1977 publication that the journal Hassler kept while writing the book has also been released to great acclaim.
One of his later novels, North of Hope, is wonderful, too. Trouble brews when Father Frank Healy re-encounters his unrequited adolescent love, Libby Girard, in middle age. Things aren’t so unrequited this time around. Libby is unhappily married to a doctor in the rural Minnesota town where Frank has taken a new assignment as parish priest. Already questioning his strength as a clergyman—he has gone blank during recent homilies—Frank wonders if loving Libby is God’s true calling for him, especially as he learns how twisted her marriage really is.
What could be soap opera in less capable hands is a life-affirming story of one man’s faith. Hassler can nail a scene or character in a few brushstrokes. He slyly finds humor in every situation, no matter how grim. And it is brilliant the way he shows us the most chilling part of the doctor’s character unbeknownst to Frank and Libby. Wondering how they will discover it—or will they?—keeps the pages turning.
This is a landscape where cracking ice in frozen lakes can boom like thunder in the night, where husbands betray their wives, daughters betray their mothers and hope seems a long way off. But no matter how bleak Hassler’s world may seem at times, he eventually leads his characters to light and warmth—and his readers, too.
One of his later novels, North of Hope, is wonderful, too. Trouble brews when Father Frank Healy re-encounters his unrequited adolescent love, Libby Girard, in middle age. Things aren’t so unrequited this time around. Libby is unhappily married to a doctor in the rural Minnesota town where Frank has taken a new assignment as parish priest. Already questioning his strength as a clergyman—he has gone blank during recent homilies—Frank wonders if loving Libby is God’s true calling for him, especially as he learns how twisted her marriage really is.
What could be soap opera in less capable hands is a life-affirming story of one man’s faith. Hassler can nail a scene or character in a few brushstrokes. He slyly finds humor in every situation, no matter how grim. And it is brilliant the way he shows us the most chilling part of the doctor’s character unbeknownst to Frank and Libby. Wondering how they will discover it—or will they?—keeps the pages turning.
This is a landscape where cracking ice in frozen lakes can boom like thunder in the night, where husbands betray their wives, daughters betray their mothers and hope seems a long way off. But no matter how bleak Hassler’s world may seem at times, he eventually leads his characters to light and warmth—and his readers, too.
June 23, 2014
One of my favorite books by one of my favorite writers: the story of Fr. Frank Healy hitting the "big leak" of a midlife crisis as he accompanies his high school crush and best friend through her own crisis is written with Hassler's typically clear, deceptively simple prose. Hassler is a "Catholic" writer in many senses: Catholic himself, many of the main characters in many of his novels are also Catholic and move about in a Catholic milieu: parishes, rectories. But I think his writing is so human, so universal that anyone who enjoys good writing could enjoy him.
January 2, 2024
A very beautiful and thought provoking novel.
By far, my favorite piece of this was the atmosphere and setting. The descriptions of northern Minnesota during the winter were spot on, and Hassler did an amazing job capturing what that time of year feels like.
The ending and questions about faith also left me with a lot to consider, and I haven't come to enough conclusions yet to write about them thoroughly.
By far, my favorite piece of this was the atmosphere and setting. The descriptions of northern Minnesota during the winter were spot on, and Hassler did an amazing job capturing what that time of year feels like.
The ending and questions about faith also left me with a lot to consider, and I haven't come to enough conclusions yet to write about them thoroughly.
April 10, 2021
A satisfying old-fashioned novel with depth of characterization and generous splashes of humor to leaven the tragic themes explored here. One of my favorites is a lengthy conversation among four dour elderly shut-ins that Father Frank is driving to visit the ailing Monsignor Adrian in the hospital. You can just imagine the patience of Job required of clerics who pay house calls on such complainers.
They started with the weather.
"Horrible."
"Depressing."
"Worse than last year."
"One night above zero since December twelfth."
"Dreadful."
"Worse coming."
"Are the roads icy, Father?"
"No, they're clear."
"Just wait, they'll be icy if this snow keeps up."
"I don't mind the cold, but I hate the snow."
"I hate the cold."
"I hate the cold and snow both."
"I hate winter. Everybody's so grouchy."
"There isn't the old friendliness anymore, not in any season. In the old days people were friendlier."
"There isn't the friendliness and there isn't the respect for age."
"There isn't the patriotism."
"There isn't the ambition."
"There isn't the quality of food."
"There isn't the respect for the elderly."
"You already said that."
"Potatoes especially. Where can you buy a good potato nowadays?"
"And prices, my lord."
"Horrible prices."
"Dreadful prices."
"Worse coming, they say."
"Do you know what you pay for a good baking potato nowadays? You can pay as much as thirty cents."
"That's criminal."
"That's outrageous. I paid fifty cents for ten pounds of russets in 1955."
"Where will it all end?"
"It's outrageous."
"It's depressing."
"It's the Democrats."
They started with the weather.
"Horrible."
"Depressing."
"Worse than last year."
"One night above zero since December twelfth."
"Dreadful."
"Worse coming."
"Are the roads icy, Father?"
"No, they're clear."
"Just wait, they'll be icy if this snow keeps up."
"I don't mind the cold, but I hate the snow."
"I hate the cold."
"I hate the cold and snow both."
"I hate winter. Everybody's so grouchy."
"There isn't the old friendliness anymore, not in any season. In the old days people were friendlier."
"There isn't the friendliness and there isn't the respect for age."
"There isn't the patriotism."
"There isn't the ambition."
"There isn't the quality of food."
"There isn't the respect for the elderly."
"You already said that."
"Potatoes especially. Where can you buy a good potato nowadays?"
"And prices, my lord."
"Horrible prices."
"Dreadful prices."
"Worse coming, they say."
"Do you know what you pay for a good baking potato nowadays? You can pay as much as thirty cents."
"That's criminal."
"That's outrageous. I paid fifty cents for ten pounds of russets in 1955."
"Where will it all end?"
"It's outrageous."
"It's depressing."
"It's the Democrats."
March 24, 2024
I really enjoyed this book. Every word and every character were important to the story.
When I thought I knew where it was going and what would happen, it didn't. I don't like to give away plots and endings in my reviews, suffice to say, I was happily surprised. I found myself smiling while reading. There was one part in particular where I dug into my personal spiritual belief and questioned what I did and why I did it. Was it taught to me or was it something I developed myself?
Sometimes, I love a book that sneakily makes me delve a little more deeply into who and why I am.
When I thought I knew where it was going and what would happen, it didn't. I don't like to give away plots and endings in my reviews, suffice to say, I was happily surprised. I found myself smiling while reading. There was one part in particular where I dug into my personal spiritual belief and questioned what I did and why I did it. Was it taught to me or was it something I developed myself?
Sometimes, I love a book that sneakily makes me delve a little more deeply into who and why I am.
March 16, 2023
Not sure how I feel about this book. Frank, Libby, Verna, Tom, Toad, Judge... quite a cast of characters but not much joy in any of them. Well written, but not sure I loved it.
June 16, 2018
This was my third reading of North of Hope. It's one of my favorite books. Reading Hassler is like sitting on my front porch and watching my neighbors. He lived and taught in Brainerd for part of his career, so the setting and characters feel so familiar. North of Hope has the best first paragraph/chapter of any book I've read, ending with "she's the one." What I love about Frank Healy and Libby is their deep, spiritual relationship. Frank has dedicated himself to God and his profession as a priest. Libby is a wounded soul, wandering the Earth, searching for connection. She finds it with Frank. North of Hope is also about the harshness of life Up North, where the winters nearly freeze your spirits to the core, but the promise of Spring and deeper connections keep the spark alive. I first read this book when I was in my 30's when I attended a workshop lead by Jon Hassler. I read it again shortly after my divorce when I was in my 40's, and I'm reading it now. I just turned 50 and find myself sailing solo again on life's rocky waters. I think I'll read this book once every decade. You've heard of comfort food. North of Hope is my comfort book.
November 10, 2011
Many years ago, I read this book as part of a class on "The Modern Catholic Novel". It was the only book I enjoyed or connected to of the required reading, so much so that I reread it every few years, mostly as the nights get longer and the weather turns cold. The title comes from one of the main characters, who in the grips of despair wonders "Maybe hope doesn't reach this far north?" and as you read about the turmoil that Frank are going through, you begin to wonder that yourself.
August 25, 2015
Sometimes you're in the minority when it comes to book reviews, but neither the characters nor the setting drew me in to the story enough to really care.
June 1, 2017
“North of Hope” is one of Jon Hassler’s most ambitious and, at 663 pages in the Loyola Classics edition I read, longest works of fiction. Published in 1990, the novel follows the life of Frank Healy from when he was a junior in high school in the small town of “Linden Falls, Minnesota” in 1949, his becoming a Catholic priest in his 20s, the complicated on-and-off friendship over three decades with adolescent love Libby Girard, and the culmination of the novel’s events during their 44th year in 1977.
Besides being a carefully constructed character study of Healy, Girard, and several other characters, the novel comments on American small-town life in the 1940s and 1950s. For instance, gender roles were much more rigid then than now, although there is plenty of social demarcation of the sexes even into the 21st century.
“In those postwar years,” Hassler writes, “there was a militant code of behavior among the men and boys of Linden Falls: males did masculine things and avoided doing feminine things. Men drove cars, they did not ride in cars with women at the wheel. Men did not talk about beauty, illness, or babies. In their early teens boys abandoned all sissified activities such as reading books for pleasure and taking piano lessons and went out for sports.”
In the early part of the novel, Hassler honestly describes the awkwardness, self-doubt, shyness, and loneliness often endured by boys and girls in high school. Besides battling these emotions, the young and inexperienced people in the novel make decisions that profoundly affect the rest of their lives – even if they don’t know it at the time.
Only later in life do the two central characters of “North of Hope,” Libby and Frank, begin to realize what decisions have been important, and which of those decisions were wise and those not. They recognize the missed opportunities of their past – and fight being overwhelmed by regret. The past cannot be changed, they learn. Like people in real life, Libby and Frank must face and accept the consequences of their teenage beliefs and actions and, just as importantly, actions not taken.
Frank’s and Libby’s struggle with past decisions and the realization of early-life ignorance reaches a climax during a lunch together at the Bavarian Wursthaus in “Berrington, Minnesota” when they were in their 40s. The revelations are startling.
Libby tells Frank that he had “good looks” in high school.
“‘Good looks?’ Frank seemed surprised.
“‘Oh, Frank, you’re so innocent. You had no idea, did you, that you could have had any girl you wanted simply by giving her the time of day. You were the Gregory Peck of Linden Falls. …’”
Later, Frank reveals, “‘I couldn’t imagine you being my girlfriend in those days, because you were too beautiful.’
“‘I wasn’t.’
“‘I swear to God. Beauty I somehow didn’t deserve.’”
Hope is one of the themes of the novel and gives the novel its title. Frank and Libby, in their own ways, battle self-recrimination and despair. Near the conclusion of the book, Libby confides to Frank, “‘It’s like hope doesn’t reach this far north.’
“‘But it does, Libby. Hope goes wherever you want it to.’”
As with his short stories and other novels, Hassler showcases in “North of Hope” everyday people whom you could meet at the neighborhood grocery store. They may be called everyday people, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have lives that are fascinating and instructive, especially when told by a master storyteller like Hassler.
Besides being a carefully constructed character study of Healy, Girard, and several other characters, the novel comments on American small-town life in the 1940s and 1950s. For instance, gender roles were much more rigid then than now, although there is plenty of social demarcation of the sexes even into the 21st century.
“In those postwar years,” Hassler writes, “there was a militant code of behavior among the men and boys of Linden Falls: males did masculine things and avoided doing feminine things. Men drove cars, they did not ride in cars with women at the wheel. Men did not talk about beauty, illness, or babies. In their early teens boys abandoned all sissified activities such as reading books for pleasure and taking piano lessons and went out for sports.”
In the early part of the novel, Hassler honestly describes the awkwardness, self-doubt, shyness, and loneliness often endured by boys and girls in high school. Besides battling these emotions, the young and inexperienced people in the novel make decisions that profoundly affect the rest of their lives – even if they don’t know it at the time.
Only later in life do the two central characters of “North of Hope,” Libby and Frank, begin to realize what decisions have been important, and which of those decisions were wise and those not. They recognize the missed opportunities of their past – and fight being overwhelmed by regret. The past cannot be changed, they learn. Like people in real life, Libby and Frank must face and accept the consequences of their teenage beliefs and actions and, just as importantly, actions not taken.
Frank’s and Libby’s struggle with past decisions and the realization of early-life ignorance reaches a climax during a lunch together at the Bavarian Wursthaus in “Berrington, Minnesota” when they were in their 40s. The revelations are startling.
Libby tells Frank that he had “good looks” in high school.
“‘Good looks?’ Frank seemed surprised.
“‘Oh, Frank, you’re so innocent. You had no idea, did you, that you could have had any girl you wanted simply by giving her the time of day. You were the Gregory Peck of Linden Falls. …’”
Later, Frank reveals, “‘I couldn’t imagine you being my girlfriend in those days, because you were too beautiful.’
“‘I wasn’t.’
“‘I swear to God. Beauty I somehow didn’t deserve.’”
Hope is one of the themes of the novel and gives the novel its title. Frank and Libby, in their own ways, battle self-recrimination and despair. Near the conclusion of the book, Libby confides to Frank, “‘It’s like hope doesn’t reach this far north.’
“‘But it does, Libby. Hope goes wherever you want it to.’”
As with his short stories and other novels, Hassler showcases in “North of Hope” everyday people whom you could meet at the neighborhood grocery store. They may be called everyday people, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have lives that are fascinating and instructive, especially when told by a master storyteller like Hassler.
October 19, 2019
“When you love people, you want to take them into your soul. You want them to know what you’re like. So you make them feel like shit because then they’ll understand how you feel.”
Mixed feelings with this one. I was immediately intrigued because I love his writing. His style is unique and I love reading it. The characters are sweet and the emotions are relatable.
As the story progressed, I grew less interested in the characters. I became almost annoyed with them, so many of them were making wrong choices and lying and running away from things. A depressing undertone to every thing started to take over and slowly by the end it had ruined the story. The story felt too long, dragged out where it maybe should’ve been shorter. I held on to the hope that at the end, he would realize his mom hadn’t said she wanted him to be a priest, and that would be his sign to finally go and love Libby, but he didn’t, so the ending disappointed me and made me almost resent reading such a long book. The Hassler writing kept the book enjoyable for me at least. I’ll never stop enjoying his style.
Mixed feelings with this one. I was immediately intrigued because I love his writing. His style is unique and I love reading it. The characters are sweet and the emotions are relatable.
As the story progressed, I grew less interested in the characters. I became almost annoyed with them, so many of them were making wrong choices and lying and running away from things. A depressing undertone to every thing started to take over and slowly by the end it had ruined the story. The story felt too long, dragged out where it maybe should’ve been shorter. I held on to the hope that at the end, he would realize his mom hadn’t said she wanted him to be a priest, and that would be his sign to finally go and love Libby, but he didn’t, so the ending disappointed me and made me almost resent reading such a long book. The Hassler writing kept the book enjoyable for me at least. I’ll never stop enjoying his style.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2025
3.5 stars tentatively rounded up to 4. I came across this on my TBR list while searching for something else and saw I'd shelved it a decade ago. It was interesting to read something that the person I was back then was interested in. All this time later I'm reading the book.
This is a nice exploration of how soulmates work. At the end of the Loyola Classics edition they have discussion questions and one asks the reader whether both times Frank heard a voice tell him, "[She's] the one," meant the same thing each time. I think the second time he heard it, the meaning was that Libby would be the one to repair his spiritual leak. Maybe that's what it meant when he heard it as a teenager, too.
31 Aug 2025
This is a nice exploration of how soulmates work. At the end of the Loyola Classics edition they have discussion questions and one asks the reader whether both times Frank heard a voice tell him, "[She's] the one," meant the same thing each time. I think the second time he heard it, the meaning was that Libby would be the one to repair his spiritual leak. Maybe that's what it meant when he heard it as a teenager, too.
31 Aug 2025
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2020
Frank struggles with the last words of his Mom on her dying breath, told by Eunice that she wanted Frank to become a Priest. He has strong feelings for a woman for most of his life, and his love tested after she has divorced her first husband, raised a troubled child, outlasted another husband, and then has a troubled life with a third husband who is a doctor, a drunkard, and a drug pusher. Frank is the rock for this family and for the town of Basswood--a poor Indian Reservation. Although, this is a less than happy story, it is of redemption. It was slow going at first, the story takes ...
December 16, 2019
I agree that at times this book could be a bit slow moving. But what I enjoyed most is that it made me feel like I was right there. I could picture the the small town life in Minnesota. I know it was a bit depressing. But isn’t that just how some people’s lives go. They couldn’t but any good luck. I really liked this book.
June 10, 2023
After enjoying Hassler’s “A Green Journey”, I was looking forward to reading this book. However, this novel had so little light making its way through the overall gloomy cloudiness of the story, I was disappointed. I longed for the bits of humor, hope, and positive personality surprises that brightened Journey.
July 23, 2017
My husband had read this book and thought i might enjoy it. I did not. Very, very slow and couldn't wait for the book to be finished. And it's huge. But saw it through to the end. Don't plan to read this author again.
September 26, 2017
Really enjoyed this story and that fact that the story was placed in northern Minnesota where I am from made it even more enjoyable.i have just discovered this author and would like to read more of his books.
December 25, 2023
Set in North Minnesota, this book follows our two characters from being teenagers to later in life. A lot of winter, a lot of Catholicism, some crime, some conflict in rural setting. It felt like this book may have had an influence on William Kent Krueger.
July 13, 2024
Offensive!!! Three blasphemies in the first couple chapters. I cannot understand why a Catholic publisher would print anything with dialogue taking the Lord's name in vain multiple times at the beginning of a book. Unable to finish. Went in the trash can.
November 22, 2017
Well written, kept me engaged all the way through - with a few surprises at the end. Hassler always wrote with compassion and love for humankind.
December 1, 2017
An interesting Catholic tale.
January 15, 2020
It would have been a great book, but way to much information....the book just dragged along. If I could have done 2.5 stars I would have.
August 7, 2021
Brilliant novel. He captures the spirit of the north of Minnesota, the relationship between the white residents and the Ojibwe. Wonderful relationships.
August 3, 2022
Great book I read a long time ago. I enjoy Hassler and his MN style. Minnesotan spirit in all of his books!
September 2, 2022
I quit half way through. Just not grabbing my attention.
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