Good weekend read: Emma Hooper's 'Etta and Otto and Russell and James'

Emma Hooper
Author Emma Hooper in the MPR studios
Euan Kerr | MPR Photo

If you're looking for a fun, and thought-provoking, read over the Fourth of July weekend, you might try Emma Hooper's debut novel.

"Etta and Otto and Russell and James" begins with a letter - a few lines which irrevocably change the lives of the four characters in the title.

A best-seller in hardcover, the book has now been released in paperback.

Emma Hooper, a Canadian who now lives in Bath in England, recently came through the Twin Cities to talk about the book.

She says she based Etta and Otto on her grandparents who grew up on the prairies of Saskatchewan. Her grandfather was one of 15 children, and she wanted to write about what that must have been like.

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