Debut Novel “Midland Fair” Follows One Family Through a Century of American Upheaval

Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk

Edward Williams has published his debut novel, "Midland Fair," a work of historical fiction that opens in the fictional Reisenthal Valley, a hidden refuge where the Manrovii people have lived in isolation for a thousand years. The book follows what happens after a young man from that community leaves, a departure that sets off a chain of events reaching across generations.

The novel then shifts to the story of the Murphys, a family whose lives intersect with real moments in American history: the building of the Erie Canal, the settling of the Illinois frontier, the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and the labor unrest at Pullman. According to the publisher, the book is built around the tension between the lives people inherit and the lives they choose to build for themselves.

Williams was born in New Jersey and studied at the University of Oklahoma, where, according to the announcement, his interest in literature and history developed. The publisher’s description notes that he drew on travels through the United States and Europe earlier in his life, and that he began writing the novel after retiring.

"This book represents my attempt to capture how individual choices ripple across generations and reshape entire families," Williams said in the announcement. "I wanted to explore the intersection of personal ambition and historical inevitability through characters whose struggles and triumphs feel entirely human."

"Midland Fair" is published through Fulton Books and is available at bookstores and through Apple iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and Barnes and Noble.

Studio CarryOnHarry will be watching whether a debut spanning this many eras and this large a cast of historical touchpoints holds together as a single narrative, or reads as several novels stitched into one.

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