Reviews

“The stunning story rolls back the decades to 1976 and makes you feel connected to the characters even after you put the book down. Time periods, styles, and fashions may change, but family and community are constant.”—Amy Meyer, Manitowoc County Historical Society Executive Director

“This poignant story of a family’s day in 1976 and beyond will touch readers.”—Lisa Lickel, Creative Wisconsin magazine editor and author of the Forces of Nature series

“Bicentennial Eve delivers a heartwarming slice of life in a small town on the shore of Lake Michigan.”—Mary Behan, author of the award-winning novels A Measured Thread and Finding Isobel

“. . . an evocative, unforgettable portrait of a family on the brink of change. Perfect for fans of rich family dramas and coming-of-age tales.”—Marie Zhuikov, author of The Path of Totality

Kirkus

“In Jacob’s novella, ordinary Wisconsinites wrestle with ordinary problems on the eve of July 4, 1976.

“The day begins quietly: 13-year-old Skye hopes a summer history project might end with her first kiss; college student Grace weighs a year in France against the security of love; Claire wonders whether her decades spent caring for everyone else have left room for the woman she once imagined becoming; and 73-year-old Kitty prepares to board a plane for the first great adventure of her life after postponing it for more than 60 years. Each chapter is time-stamped, marking the passage of hours as though the characters are counting down toward a destiny they cannot yet recognize. By noon, nearly every character has reached a crossroads; by the time fireworks illuminate the lake, lives have been redirected—sometimes almost imperceptibly—toward unexpected futures. Beneath the conversations about coffee, vacations, and casseroles lie deferred dreams, unprocessed wartime grief, marital dissatisfaction, parental obligations, and the persistent question of whether it’s ever too late to become the person one has imagined being. Lake Michigan binds these stories together. To Skye, it appears “quiet and smooth and flat”; its placid surface suggests that every ordinary life contains depths unseen by those standing on the shore. The author cannily captures how life’s decisive moments rarely announce themselves—instead, they arrive disguised as ordinary afternoons. The rotating viewpoints can create a sense of inertia, but they ultimately assemble into an emotional mosaic, revealing how seemingly inconsequential choices ripple outward through families and across generations. Beneath a sky transformed into “bits of colored glass,” nostalgic Americana gives way to something far more enduring: a meditation on the courage required to choose the life one truly wants.

“A poignant reminder that life’s quietest moments often lead to the most consequential choices.”—Kirkus