Fisken: A Novel

"Not just a hell of a good read, but a haunting, lyrical tale of a family at war with itself and the elements that will resonate across the generations" - Gifford Keen, author of Prodigal Father, Wayward Son

The Stillwell brothers are wary of each other, a family split up and dissolved by the death of a mother and undercurrents of guilt and blame. Now the trio strikes up an uneasy alliance on the deck of a commercial fishing boat on a remote stretch of the Oregon coast, where expectations are low and hard living is the norm. Faced with winter storms, a destroyed boat that needs rebuilding and suddenly depending on each other for survival, the brothers are forced to confront who they have chosen to become, and face a surprising secret from their past.

Set against the harsh but seductive milieu of the Pacific Northwest and its coastal moodiness, Fisken takes a hard look at the pieces that are broken and missing in our relationships with the ones we love most and asks if they can ever be recovered and mended-and what happens if they are not.

There are elements of Norman Maclean's dreamlike A River Runs Through It and the love of western landscape in Ivan Doig's This House of Sky. But Fisken has most in common with The Perfect Storm in its breadth of appeal and storytelling. Its brutal commentary on our place for women, our obsession with sex and the manner in which fathers pass anger to their sons, is both crucial and warranted. An unblinking look at the raw, violent and ambitious aspects of the American experience, entrenched peoples and vivid cultures, Fisken picks up where Ken Kesey, Cormac McCarthy and William Faulkner leave off.

J. Finnigan is an author, journalist and editor who has written widely about the elements and his experiences as a commercial fisherman in Oregon and Alaska. A recipient of 18 journalism awards, he lives on the Oregon coast.