An emotionally powerful saga set in Maine that explores family love, the power of myths and storytelling, environmental exploitation, and the ties between identity and the land we live on, The Lowering Days tells the story of three families along the Penobscot River who are drawn into a web of crisis after an act of eco-sabotage made to protect the land and river from further harm divides their communities. Evocative, atmospheric, and pulsating with the aliveness of the natural world, The Lowering Days is a meditation on the flow and weight of history, the power and fragility of love, and the dangerous fault lines underlying families.
Publishers Marketplace Buzz Book
Goodreads Best Debut Novel
Goodreads Historical Fiction Novel to Discover
Library Journal Most Anticipated Book
Library Journal Best Debut Novel of 2021
Longlisted for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award
Winner of an AudioFile Magazine Earphones Award
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Read an Excerpt at LitHub
Listen to an Excerpt at HarperAudio
PRAISE
"There’s magic here.”
- Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls and Chances Are...
“The Lowering Days is a masterful debut."
- Elizabeth Wetmore, New York Times-bestselling author of Valentine
"A lyrical and sincere work by a novelist fully alive to the natural world."
- Anthony Marra, New York Times-bestselling author of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
"A lovely novel."
- Morgan Talty, bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez
"Unflinching, lyrical, and timely."
- Nickolas Butler, author of Shotgun Lovesongs and Little Faith
“Gregory Brown renders the lives and landscapes of rural Maine with great power and greater compassion.”
- Madhuri Vijay, author of The Far Field
"Brown’s dynamic debut shines a light on a small town’s fraught history in Maine’s Penobscot River valley . . . Lyrical and gorgeously written. "
- Publishers Weekly
"A gripping tale."
- Kirkus
"Graceful and compassionate."
- The Boston Globe
"By placing David and Molly’s stories side by side, Brown stages a natural comparison: Why does each character resort to violence? Are their actions justified? How are they treated in the aftermath?"
- The New York Times
"Brown’s debut novel weaves together the lush setting of the Penobscot River in Maine and disparate characters struggling to coexist on a verdant, alluring land."
- Booklist
"Brown writes a fluid, lyrical prose that escorts us deep into the emotional lives of his characters. As a novelist, he's half Barry Lopez, half Louise Erdrich."
- Minneapolis Star Tribune
"A sweeping story."
- Bangor Daily News
“The Lowering Days is all about what happens when you don’t watch where you’re walking . . . Heartbreaking, gripping and compassionate."
- Portland Press Herald
“The Lowering Days is a remarkable work of fiction. Rarely does a first novel show such polish and promise for an author . . . Rich with color, emotion, suspense, and character. ”
- Kennebec Journal
"The Penobscot River runs through this story of a small town whose set-to-reopen paper mill represents economic hope to white residents and ecological destruction to Native residents and brings tensions in the community to a dangerous head."
- Downeast Magazine
"Achingly beautiful and bittersweet family saga. An absorbing, elemental story of human existence."
- Shelf Awareness
"There’s magic here.”
- Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls and Chances Are...
“The Lowering Days is a masterful debut."
- Elizabeth Wetmore, New York Times-bestselling author of Valentine
"A lyrical and sincere work by a novelist fully alive to the natural world."
- Anthony Marra, New York Times-bestselling author of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
"A lovely novel."
- Morgan Talty, bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez
"Unflinching, lyrical, and timely."
- Nickolas Butler, author of Shotgun Lovesongs and Little Faith
“Gregory Brown renders the lives and landscapes of rural Maine with great power and greater compassion.”
- Madhuri Vijay, author of The Far Field
"Brown’s dynamic debut shines a light on a small town’s fraught history in Maine’s Penobscot River valley . . . Lyrical and gorgeously written. "
- Publishers Weekly
"A gripping tale."
- Kirkus
"Graceful and compassionate."
- The Boston Globe
"By placing David and Molly’s stories side by side, Brown stages a natural comparison: Why does each character resort to violence? Are their actions justified? How are they treated in the aftermath?"
- The New York Times
"Brown’s debut novel weaves together the lush setting of the Penobscot River in Maine and disparate characters struggling to coexist on a verdant, alluring land."
- Booklist
"Brown writes a fluid, lyrical prose that escorts us deep into the emotional lives of his characters. As a novelist, he's half Barry Lopez, half Louise Erdrich."
- Minneapolis Star Tribune
"A sweeping story."
- Bangor Daily News
“The Lowering Days is all about what happens when you don’t watch where you’re walking . . . Heartbreaking, gripping and compassionate."
- Portland Press Herald
“The Lowering Days is a remarkable work of fiction. Rarely does a first novel show such polish and promise for an author . . . Rich with color, emotion, suspense, and character. ”
- Kennebec Journal
"The Penobscot River runs through this story of a small town whose set-to-reopen paper mill represents economic hope to white residents and ecological destruction to Native residents and brings tensions in the community to a dangerous head."
- Downeast Magazine
"Achingly beautiful and bittersweet family saga. An absorbing, elemental story of human existence."
- Shelf Awareness
