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    A Study Guide for Leif Enger's "Peace Like a River"
    A Study Guide for Leif Enger's "Peace Like a River"
    A Study Guide for Leif Enger's "Peace Like a River"
    Ebook39 pages30 minutes

    A Study Guide for Leif Enger's "Peace Like a River"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Leif Enger's "Peace Like a River," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Novels for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Novels for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateJun 27, 2016
    ISBN9781535830713
    A Study Guide for Leif Enger's "Peace Like a River"

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      A Study Guide for Leif Enger's "Peace Like a River" - Gale

      13

      Peace Like a River

      Leif Enger

      2001

      Introduction

      Peace Like a River, published in 2001, is a novel by American author Leif Enger. Set in rural Minnesota and the Badlands of North Dakota during the early 1960s, it tells the story of a turbulent year in the life of the Land family. The novel is narrated in retrospect by Reuben Land, who was eleven years old when the events recorded took place. The story centers around an incident in which Reuben's older brother, sixteen-year-old Davy, fatally shoots two intruders in the family home and is put on trial for manslaughter. Davy escapes from jail before the trial is over and goes on the run. Jeremiah Land, the father of the two boys as well as of Swede, Reuben's younger sister, decides to take his family west in search of Davy. An adventure story that explores childhood and family relationships, the novel also has a spiritual dimension, centering around Reuben's observation that his father, a devout man, is able to perform miracles. The novel contains tragedy and loss as well as romance and joy, and it touches not only on religious themes but also on complex issues such as justice and loyalty.

      Author Biography

      Enger was born in 1961 and raised in Osakis, Minnesota. His father, Don, was a school band director, and his mother, Wilma, was an elementary school teacher. He started writing poetry when he was eight years old, and he wanted to be a writer as early as his teenage years. He graduated from Minnesota State University at Moorhead in 1983 and then earned a master of fine arts degree from the University of Iowa. In 1984, he began working as a reporter and producer for Minnesota Public Radio, a position he held until 2000.

      In the 1980s, Enger wrote, along with his elder brother Lin, five crime novels based on the adventures of a former baseball player. Of those novels, he said in an interview published on the Grove/Atlantic website,

      They were widely ignored, but we had a great time—we'd get together, rub our hands over sinister plots, and then pitch batting practice to each other until dark. Lin's the better hitter, and also taught me most of what I know about writing fiction.

      In an interview published on the Writers and Books

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