Tin Camp Road

Airgood returns to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula—the backdrop of her debut, South of Superior—for a heartfelt story of a tourist town’s permanent residents. Laurel Hill and her vivacious 10-year-old daughter, Skye, live precariously in a rundown Gallion, Mich., rental, where the heat and running water rarely work. Laurel makes do with odd cleaning jobs, her heart bruised by the loss of her family home, which is now a bed and breakfast owned by a woman who takes an interest in Skye. Their friendship makes Laurel more conscious of the financial chasm between them, but Laurel and Skye find joy in the resplendent lake and stunning vistas (“Laurel had suspected early on that most of the time what people really needed was within themselves. Gallion was quiet enough to hear that needed-thing whispering, wild enough to glimpse it if you looked”). After Laurel’s landlord gives them the boot at the beginning of winter to capitalize on the expanding short-term rental market, Laurel moves them to a trailer in the woods. Then, after Laurel’s childhood friend, Jenny, asks her to save her from an abusive ex, Laurel leaves Skye alone, as she often does, and a confluence of events results in their lives being ruptured. Throughout, Airgood offers an impactful look at the ineffable bond between a mother and daughter and the tenuous grip they have on their sense of home. Readers will fall in love with this story’s rich characters and scenery. (Aug.)