I met Peter Geye at Cream and Amber Bookstore’s Boozy Book Fair in Hopkins last May where he was signing copies of his newest book, “A Lesser Light.” 

Geye is a lifelong Minneapolis resident. His novels often feature the North Shore of Lake Superior and focus on family stories spanning generations of love, wild weather and winters.

“A Lesser Light” is the story of Theodulf Sauer, the lighthouse keeper when it first opens in 1910 (what will eventually be known as Split Rock Lighthouse) and his new wife, Willa—a marriage of necessity for both.  Sauer tries his best to impress his wealthy parents with his new job as head lighthouse keeper and he feels he must have a wife to appear normal and impress his superiors. He is a very unsympathetic character. 

Willa enters the marriage only because her father died and all his money was lost. She is penniless and must give up college. She loves playing the piano and astronomy and is incredibly lonely. Their tense relationship is fraught with hostility. As the novel progresses, we see the characters’ pasts and the events that shaped them. 

Her life is very bleak indeed, until she makes friends with a family made up of Silje and her uncle Mats and the wives of the new lighthouse assistants. The wildness, danger, history and beauty of the area are compellingly depicted. 

Geye’s books often feature dual narratives, sometimes generations apart. They celebrate the ability for humans to keep going through horrible tribulations.

Cream and Amber, a bookstore, cafe and bar in Hopkins hosts another Boozy Book Fair on Saturday, Sept. 20, from 4 to 6 p.m. Tickets are $15, including a  $5 coupon which can be used towards a book purchase. Featured authors include Kathleen West, Allen Eskens and more.