Heaven, Indiana

by Jan Maher

One hot week in August 1954, in Heaven, Indiana, a baby is delivered twice: once in a barn by her grandfather, the second time to the tent door of a carnival fortune-teller by her grandmother Helen. The baby, Nadja, becomes part of a long tradition of well-kept secrets in the tiny town of her birth. She grows up traveling with her adoptive grandmother, the fortune-teller, learning to develop her own gifts of precognition, reading the remains of...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1943547025
• ISBN13: 9781943547029
• Release Date: October 2019
• Publisher: Dog Hollow Press
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Trip To "Heaven"

And to think all these years, I thought Indiana was home only to a decent baseball team and lousy Chinese food! Instead, Jan Maher's little slice of "Heaven, Indiana" provides readers with a thought-provoking, deeply involving and utterly enjoyable reading experience, devoid of any of the affectations and contrivances found in many first novels. Ms. Maher beautifully captures the feel and rhythms of the Midwest, with clear, finely crafted prose and engaging characters who resonate long after the story is done. For anyone who's ever lived (or loved) in a small town, the setting will ring familiar; and even city dwellers and suburbanites may find themselves half convinced that they, too, "remember" Heaven. But even beyond the richly textured setting, Maher gifts her readers with believable, multi-faceted characters facing real conflicts - all of which are seamlessly interwoven into a complex yet very readable tableau that is remarkably hard to put down.Like comfort food, "Heaven, Indiana" leaves the reader well satisfied, and with the same sense of having consumed something of substance.

A wonderful and insightful read

I loved Heaven Indiana. I kept interrupting all sorts of things I was doing, to go back and read the book until I'd finished it. It's a great read. It raises wonderful questions about family and friendship, obligation and memory, compassion, justice, and how the past weighs on the present. When I finished I felt I knew the town and its people.Paul Loeb, author of Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time

Award Worthy Debut Novel ...

Where the vast majority of new novelists fail to conquer quality characterization and compact language use, Ms. Maher succeeds with a bang.Over forty years time we monitor the multifaceted lives of three Midwestern women. Each with their own quirks and unique personalities evolving through each chapter. The secondary characters weaved throughout are just as foible making them even more loveable.Nurtured, well explored characters and an exceptional knack for descriptive writing will hopefully bring this work fitting acclaim. The creation of believable situations makes the first reading that much sweeter. Even the hardcore pessimist will recognize themselves or someone they know in "Heaven, Indiana." If not, a second read will undoubtedly find them.What makes this novel truly shine is the way we're invited to genuinely care and respect each character, no matter what they've done or what road they've taken. I found them a comforting, loyal group of friends. One or two, readers may find wishing they had in their own lives.The tensions and conflicts experienced serve only to create a desire for more. As a final page warning, I whined, "But where is she going?!" Here's hoping, one day, we find out.Barbara (c) 2000

An intriguing story, beautifully written

I seldom want to reread a novel once I have completed it. This is not the case with Heaven, Indiana. Heaven takes me back to the books I read as a teenager and young adult. The characters are vivid without Jan Maher's describing every pore. The interwoven setting and story are comforting and frightening in reminding me of much of American life before homogenization and simplification by Hollywood/TV.I'm ordering copies for gifts. I would like to afford more than two at this time. Excelent writing and a book for more nights under the reading lamp.

Heaven, Indiana is Extraordinary

Heaven, Indiana, by Jan Maher, is an extraordinary book. Ms. Maher has managed to create a multi-layered exploration of the midwest that is very subtle on the surface, and complex and complicated underneath. She follows the lives of three women growing up in the midwest over a forty year period, and through their lives gives her readers a knowledge of the history and complexity of her fictional midwest town." The book is a beautifully written. The characters and their stories stayed with me long after I finished the book. Ms. Maher has insinuated the complex weave of forces and tensions that rest just below the surface of "main street" USA, and does so with love and respect. Heaven, Indiana is a wonderful book that left me thinking about the town in which I grew up, and wondering...