Not on Fifth Street

It’s 1937 and a storm is brewing over the town of Ironton, Ohio, and in the home of Pete and Gus Brinkmeyer. The two teenage brothers, once close, struggle with the growing differences in their relationship. Gus is the older and more cerebral brother, a romantic who falls for a girl his family does not approve of. He is also jealous of their father’s seeming favoritism toward Pete, the more practical and physical brother. Pete struggles with the loss of his brother’s friendship as Gus’s jealousy and involvement with the girl drive a wedge between the two. When the Ohio River floods their town and the brothers are separated, each must discover his own strengths to survive and ultimately heal the fracture. Celebrated historical novelist Kathy Wiechman looks into her own family’s history to create unforgettable characters caught up in a catastrophic, life-changing event. Includes an extensive author’s note outlining the history behind the story.

Kathy Cannon Wiechman is the author of Like a River: A Civil War Novel, which earned a Kirkus star and won the 2015 Grateful American Book Prize, and Empty Places, about life in a 1930s coal-mining camp in Kentucky. She lives with her family in Cincinnati, Ohio, not far from where the story of Not on Fifth Street takes place. Visit kathycannonwiechman.com.