"People" magazine hailed the young author's ability to 'take the messiest of lives and fashion something beautiful'. Here, in her first novel, Helget turns her extraordinary sensibility to a haunting love story with a heinous crime at its core. In a rural Minnesota town of German immigrants in the tumultuous days of World War I, "The Turtle Catcher" brings together two misfits from warring clans. Liesel, the one girl in the upstanding family of Richter boys, harbours a secret about her body that thwarts all hope for a normal life. Her closest friend is Lester, the 'slow' boy in the raffish Sutter family, a gentle, kind soul who spends his days trapping turtles in the lake. Yearning for human touch in the wake of her parents' deaths, Liesel turns to her only friend - leading her brother, just returned from the war, to an act that will haunt not only both families but the entire town. Helget's novel is a story of loyalty and betrayal that, like her earlier book, proves her uncommon understanding of the natural world and human frailties. Both moving and heartfelt, "The Turtle Catcher" confirms this young writer's exceptional talent.
- ISBN13 9780618753123
- Publish Date 1 February 2009
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 17 October 2011
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Houghton Mifflin
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 304
- Language English