44 pages • 1 hour read
Kitchens of the Great Midwest
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Background
Authorial Context: J. Ryan Stradal
J. Ryan Stradal spent his formative years in the southern Minnesota town of Hastings in the 1970s. He graduated from Northwestern University with a focus on film, television, and radio, and he carries the Midwestern values, customs, and idiosyncratic personalities from his early life into his writings. This lifelong connection reflects his profound love for the geography, people, and cuisine of the region.
Following the success of Kitchens of the Great Midwest, Stradal published two more novels. The Lager Queen of Minnesota (2019) maintains the culinary theme, narrating the tale of two sisters who inherit a farm from their father. They split the farm and use the proceeds for separate ventures, with one sister establishing a highly successful light brewery in a story similar to Eva’s.
His most recent novel, Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club (2023), continues the focus on gastronomy and family relationships from Kitchens of the Great Midwest. The protagonist is Mariel Prager, owner of the struggling family restaurant, the Lakeside Supper Club. Although it wasn’t her dream to carry on her mother’s legacy, Mariel feels a sense of obligation. Her husband, Ned, is also from a restaurant family and owns a chain of diners started by his father, whose franchise is destined to end the quintessential, small-town eateries like the Supper Club.
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