Review by The Oregonian

Alaska provides setting for Oregon author’s tale of love and loss

(Author photo: Chan Christiansen; book cover, Red Hen Press)
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By Amy Wang | The Oregonian/OregonLive
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on August 21, 2016 at 11:00 AM, updated August 21, 2016 at 11:01 AM

Winter in Alaska is not for the faint of heart, as the narrator of Lori Tobias’ new novel, “Wander,” well knows. So it’s with many a misgiving that the young radio reporter, who goes by Pete, sees her bush pilot husband take off from their rural town for a season of chasing paychecks on “the Slope,” as the oil fields of northern Alaska are known.

Lonely at home and still striving to prove herself at work, Pete is in an emotionally vulnerable spot when she meets the new guy in town, Ren, a son of the Ivy League who offers a tantalizing glimpse at a different sort of life. What she doesn’t know about him is that Alaska isn’t his destination: It’s his escape.

“Wander” (Red Hen Press, 152 pages, $15.95) is a compact but fully packed story, a simple but heartbreaking tale of a woman caught to her dismay between two very different men in a harsh landscape. It’s told with sharp, spot-on dialogue and efficient characterizations – unsurprisingly, given that Tobias once wrote for The Oregonian and the Rocky Mountain News.

Tobias, who lives on the Oregon coast, will read from her book at several coastal events:

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A new chapter

As I write this, I am on the cusp of my birthday. A big year for me. My book is to ship on that day, as well. It’s my dream, that magical, mystical moment I’ve been envisioning for nearly my entire life. It’s taken a long time to get here, but I have no doubt it has come at precisely the moment it was meant to.

And yet, what should have been one of the best seasons of my life has, in fact, been pretty rough. In the past months, I’ve gotten myself so stressed I’ve made myself physically ill. To the point of several doctors’ visits, one unexpected emergency procedure and several tests at the hospital. And guess what? I’m fine. It seems I’ve just been such a bundle of stress, my body rebelled. But some good, much good, actually, did come of it. Knowing I had to overcome my fear of public speaking, I did what any seasoned journalist would do, I went into research mode. And I learned plenty.

Archive: August 22, 2016

Review by The Oregonian

A new chapter