Superior

Growing up in the mid 1960s, in a town straight out of Garrison Keillor's imaginary Lake Woebegone, full of Norwegian Lutherans devout in their belief in the healing powers of comfort food and suspicious of anything emotional, Swedish, or Catholic, Rhonda and Susan (one Catholic with a violent father & one Lutheran with dead parents) form a bond that will last a lifetime. But as they grow up, graduate high school and move into their early twenties, their friendship faces challenges beyond the usual growing pains. Susan is hurdling towards marriage to the Pastor’s son, Paul, and a life of wedded bliss, while Rhonda is embracing all the opportunities that a newly enlightened country seems to be offering women. In a last ditch effort to show Rhonda she still has an adventurous streak and save their friendship, Susan agrees to travel aboard a freighter through Lake Superior—a decision that will have lasting repercussions for her friendship with Rhonda and her well-planned life of happy domesticity.
At its heart, this is a story about two best friends trying to hang onto to each other in the midst of a literal and figurative storm of a lifetime. Set in a richly woven time and place, SUPERIOR is a Thelma and Louise-like story of friendship, survival and discovering exactly who you’re supposed to be.

Elizabeth Paulson is a Wisconsin native whose work has appeared on Scary Mommy, The Huffington Post blog, and Medium. SUPERIOR is her debut novel. She lives in Green Bay, WI.