Adam Herman latched onto the atmosphere and pseudo-history of his hometown when writing his newest book Villa Leila. Then he added a monster. As a youth growing up on the riverside, Herman spent time “imagining all these crazy creatures out in the trees and the woods,” says Herman. "What is out there?"
The book is subtitled A Muddy Tale of Love and Monsters and keeps both love and monsters at the forefront throughout. In Kenton, a small Illinois town along the Mississippi River, a series of deaths put some members of the community on alert for a river monster. The eclectic cast of characters share focus as the strange happenings unfold. The story has one foot in the real world throughout, while keeping the other in the land of murderous monsters and talking fish. "That magical realism... I think is wonderful," says Herman.
Villa Leila can be purchased online as well as locally at Zenith Bookstore in Duluth.
Minnesota Reads is produced at The North 103.3 with funding provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
