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Book Summary and Reviews of The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

The Lager Queen of Minnesota

by J. Ryan Stradal

  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • Published:
  • Jul 2019, 368 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

A novel of family, Midwestern values, hard work, fate and the secrets of making a world-class beer, from the bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest.

Edith Magnusson's rhubarb pies are famous in the Twin Cities--they were named the third-best in the state of Minnesota and St. Anthony-Waterside Nursing Home has quickly becomes the hottest dinner ticket in town. Still, she lays awake wondering how her life might have been different if her father hadn't left their family farm to her sister Helen, a decision that split their family in two.

With the proceeds from the farm, her sister, Helen Blotz, built her husband Orval's family soda business into the top selling brewery in Minnesota. She singlehandedly created the light beer revolution and made their corporate motto ubiquitous: "Drink lots, it's Blotz." But Helen dismisses IPAs as a fad, and the Blotz fortune begins its inevitable decline. Soon, though, she finds a potential savior that's surprisingly close to home...

Diana Winter earns a shot at learning the beer business from the ground up just as the IPA revolution begins. The stakes couldn't be higher: just as she's launching her own brewpub, she's due to deliver a baby girl. When the unthinkable happens, it's up to Grandma Edith--and a delightfully surprising cadre of grandmother friends--to secure the next generation's chances for a better future. Can Grandma Edith's Rhubarb Pie In A Bottle Ale save Diana's fledgling brewery, and change their hearts and fortunes forever?

The Lager Queen of Minnesota serves up a cast of lovable, quintessentially Midwestern characters eager to make their mark in a world that's often stacked against them. In this deeply affecting, humorous, emotional family saga, resolution can take generations, but when it finally comes, we're surprised, moved, and delighted.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"An absolutely delightful read, perfect for a summer day with a good beer and a piece of pie." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Refreshing...This story about how a family business succeeds with generations of strong and determined women at the helm makes for a sometimes sad, sometimes funny, but always winning novel." - Publishers Weekly

"Brilliant... a love letter to the Midwest... it's hard to put down not only because the storytelling is so seamless and the characters so relatable, but because the author's delight in the written word is so contagious." - Jen Sincero, #1 New York Times bestselling author of You Are a Badass

"Utterly charming... Stradal loves and knows his territory, and his affection for the Midwest—with all its stubbornness, stoicism, long memories, readiness to provide aid and quiet pride in excellence--gleams on every page." - Janet Fitch, bestselling author of The Revolution of Marina M.

"The Lager Queen of Minnesota is pure reading joy: warm, funny, informative, and full of heart. It is impossible not to root for Stradal's characters, who are so vivid, and relatable that you will miss them every time you set the book down; indeed, if you set it down at all." - Jonathan Evison, New York Times bestselling author of Lawn Boy

"Warm, whimsical, incredibly well-written and infused with Stradal's signature sympathy for his characters--those everyday heroes we all know and love... a thorough delight, from beginning to end." - Nickolas Butler, internationally bestselling author of Shotgun Lovesongs

"Full of the easy-to-love quaffability of a perfect ale, Stradal's The Lager Queen of Minnesota will warm your heart. With empathy, love, wisdom and humor on every page, I wish I could go back for more." - Jade Chang, author of The Wangs vs. The World

"The Lager Queen of Minnesota is the kind of book you think about all day, while at work, while speaking to someone else, while in line at the market...I loved this book so much. I carried it with me like a talisman, marveling at the unique storytelling of J. Ryan Stradal, who knows his people so well. It's a portrait of America, of place and land and neighborhood, and, of course, a celebration of beer." - Susan Straight, author of Highwire Moon

"A book to make you laugh and cry and believe the best days of your life are still in front of you." - Ben Loory, author ofTales of Falling and Flying

This information about The Lager Queen of Minnesota was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Sandi W.

the tide has turned...
A death in the family is heartbreaking. But to make matters worse, sisters argue over the estate of their father. The youngest sister, Helen, gets 100 of the inheritance. She is determined to make her fortune in a brewery and rule the world. Edith, the older sister, makes her way in life the best she can. She becomes known for her apple pies and always wonders what she could have done with half of her fathers estate.

Time passes and things change. Helen has never looked back and has made her name in the world. On the other hand, Edith has had heartbreak, but fast and true, she was always there to help others. By a stroke of luck Edith must brew and sell a new beer to keep her granddaughter in business.

My, how the tide has turned... One never knows just how life will turn out.

An easy read, a quick page turner. light and fluffy, nice distraction from heavier fare. A family saga full of power, greed, love, sacrifice, forgiveness and redemption. Good story, character driven plot. Well defined players, unexpected happenings.

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Author Information

J. Ryan Stradal

J. Ryan Stradal is a contributing editor at TASTE Magazine. His bestselling debut, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, won the 2016 American Booksellers Association Indie's Choice Award for Adult Debut Book of the Year and also the 2016 Midwest Booksellers Choice Award for debut fiction. Born and raised in Minnesota, he now lives in Los Angeles.

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