A Small Earnest Question

Life on Washington Island is always interesting. Elisabeth and Roger’s new hotel is open and offering some unusual amenities. Eddie and Oliver Robert have started a great books club, and Emily Martin, not to be outdone, decides what the Island most needs is a literary festival, complete with a famous author. Pali and Ben have a spiritual encounter that will change them both. Meanwhile, Fiona must determine her answers to some very important questions. Lyrical, engrossing, and sharply insightful, J. F. Riordan’s novels are a quiet tribute to the ordinary life, well-lived.

J.F. Riordan of Mequon, WI

J.F. Riordan was born in New Jersey and first moved to Michigan, then Wisconsin as a child. At the age of 14 she decided to become an opera singer, and was fortunate in the aftermath to have been able to sing. At 16, after two years of high school, she went to the University of New Mexico to study voice, continued her music studies in Chicago and Milwaukee, and ultimately became a professional singer. Homesick after years of travel, she came home to the Midwest, finished her college degree, and became certified to teach high school. She taught for three years in the inner city before taking a position as a program officer for a foundation. She lives in exile from Washington Island with her husband and two dogs. North of the Tension Line is her first novel.