I CHEERFULLY REFUSE by Leif Enger, Audio Edition

5 stars

Ever since Enger’s Peace Like a River, I’ve longed for more of his writing, and his latest book delivers in bountiful and provocative prose: a love story in a dystopian near future ravished by climate change and societal lawlessness. Rainy, a bass musician in a bar band who’s compassionate and content on just getting by, is married to the love of his life, Lark. They live in a small town along the North Shore of Lake Superior in a world that’s come apart at its seams with political upheaval, destructive climate change, and only a handful of elite families controlling all the wealth. Lark has created her own modest bookstore, sharing space with the only bread baker in town, at a time when books have mostly become seen as treasonous by a raging uneducated populace. Lark has taught Rainy to read, and immersed him in her favorite novels, including all the works by her favorite cult author. She’s always been on the search for an almost impossible to find advanced reader’s copy with the same name as this novel, which never got formally published.

One day a fugitive from a medical ship in the lake to which he’s been conscripted arrives at Rainy and Lark’s doorstep, who they take in as a lodger and who happens to have a copy of the advanced reader’s copy. They dote on him, until the bad guys searching for him arrive to capture what he stole from the ship, and all havoc and chaos and loss ensues.

But throughout, as Lark escapes on a sailboat in the tumultuous lake, he manages to keep his optimism afloat and refuses to give in to despair. His escapades both wrench and warm the heart, and Lark sustains a flicker of hope in a world run amok.

Thanks to RB Media, Recorded Books and NetGalley for access in order to review this audiobook.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.