First published 2009
Marjorie Krebsbach leads twelve residents of Lake Wobegon on a pilgrimage to Rome. They plan to decorate a war hero's grave after receiving a phone call from an Italian woman searching for her Lake Wobegon connections. Radio host Gary Keillor joins the group. Marjorie carries her own motivation for the journey: she hopes to reclaim her husband Carl's affection. The pilgrimage also draws inspiration from O Paradiso, a memoir by a farm wife who discovered life's secrets in Italy. The travelers find themselves far from their familiar Minnesota town, sitting in Rome's rain-soaked Piazza Navona. Away from the comfortable confines of the Chatterbox Café, the pilgrims begin sharing truths about themselves they never could express back home. When Irene Bunsen worries that Keillor might write about their revelations, he reminds her that he created their town. The distance from Lake Wobegon creates space for honest conversation and self-examination among neighbors who thought they knew everything about each other.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, self-examination
Setting: Italy, Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, Piazza Navona, Rome
Period: Contemporary
304 pages · Hardcover · Viking