ABOUT LAND OF JOYS: A bestselling book, an exhibit featuring the Hill-Billies of Heaven Holler, and a brutal murder turn the excitement of 1904 World’s Fair into a nightmare for the people of Daybreak. Country and city collide when Charlotte Turner’s son Adam turns their sleepy Ozarks village of Daybreak into a tourist attraction with his bestselling novel The Hill-Billies of Heaven Holler. But his idea of setting up a hillbilly exhibit at the 1904 World’s Fair has unforeseen consequences in all directions as Charlotte, her granddaughter Petey, and the rest of Daybreak are caught up in the exoticism, greed, and danger that surround the event. Adventure leads to violence at home and at the Fair, and Charlotte must make life-of-death choices to keep Petey safe and preserve her beloved community.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Steve Wiegenstein is the author of five books, most recently Land of Joys, a historical novel that takes place at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and in the fictional Ozarks village of Daybreak. His short story collection Scattered Lights was a finalist for the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award in Fiction. He has written three earlier historical novels, also set in Daybreak: The Language of Trees, This Old World, and Slant of Light. Steve grew up in the Missouri Ozarks and worked there as a newspaper reporter before entering the field of higher education. He taught journalism, English, and communication for a number of colleges and universities during his career, but is now retired from teaching and writes full-time. An avid hiker and canoer, he returns to his home region every chance he gets; he also writes and blogs about rural and Ozarks issues at stevewiegenstein.wordpress.com. The son of a rural librarian, he received the Missouri Author Award from the Missouri Library Association in 2022.
Copies of the author’s book will be available for purchase and signing at the event courtesy of Subterranean Books.
