We Recommend: The Lowering Days by Gregory Brown

The Lowering Days by Gregory Brown takes on past conflicts with a contemporary narrative. After a paper mill is burned to the ground in the Penobscot Valley, the original land of the Penobscot tribe, a debate within the town ensues to resolve the mystery after a local reporter receives a letter with no name admitting to the crime. The mill had two meanings for two different types of people which Brown encaptures within the characters.

As a debut author, Brown examines current land issues and land acknowledgements that are not often seen in fictional writing. By including two sides of one story, the reader has a greater understanding of how something simple, such as a paper mill, has multiple underlying meanings and importances in both current times and history.