For Jenny Markert, writing has been a life-long love. "From a very young age I wanted to write a book," says Markert. "After growing up on the lakes... I knew that there was a story there." Like many Minnesotans, Markert remembers summer days at the cabin up north. Her novel Waterlines focuses on Eleanor who is seen at two different times in her life - as a college student working a summer job and as a professional and parent some twenty years later on.
The story is "kind of a love letter to Minnesota," says Markert. Amidst the vivid imagery of a quintessential lake in the Northland, readers will find romance, mystery, and social commentary about the development of "lake life" and corporate intrusion on the environment. The narrative also leans into palpable relationships. Several characters enter Eleanor's life affording the opportunity to watch young love blossom, mature friendships solidify, and parent-child dynamics grow.
In the presentation of the words on the page, Markert takes a creative approach. The dominant prose form sporadically breaks into poetry giving the shape of the text a liquid quality. "There are pages where it looks like water is trickling down the page," says Markert. "It also adds a little rhythm to it that feels like water... it makes you think about the pace of life."
Waterlines is a 2022 publication by Elder Eye Press. It can be purchased online through Barnes and Noble, as well as through Amazon.
Minnesota Reads is produced at The North 103.3 with funding provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
Original Broadcast: 12/1/2022
Rebroadcast Date(s): 12/15/2022