Description

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THE INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER!

?For readers of J. Ryan Stradal and The Music of Bees (with a dash of FX's The Bear) comes a quirky and refreshing epistolary novel about a family of culture-shocked Brooklynites transplanted to Goodnight, Kansas and their fight for their unexpected lifeline: the legendary May Day Diner.

Welcome to Goodnight, Kansas.

Population: Many Kansans, three New Yorkers, and one chance to save the place they love most

With more wind chimes than residents, folks don't move to Goodnight when their lives are going well. That's why all eyes are on chef Sid Solvang and his family from the moment they turn down Emporia Road to the dilapidated Victorian they inherited.

While Sid searches for work and a way back to Brooklyn, his daughter searches for answers to the cryptic messages her grandfather left behind to save both her family and the town. But then Sid makes an impulsive purchase: the fledgling May Day Diner, an iconic eatery under the threat of the wrecking ball.

As the Solvangs search for their ticket out, they discover the truth of Goodnight: one of heart and tradition, of exploitation and greed, and neighbors you would do anything to save. And the Solvangs must navigate all of it—plus a wayward girl named Disco, a host of rambunctious alpacas, and the corrupt factory sustaining the town—in order to find their way back home...wherever that may be.

Told through diary entries, emails, school notes, and an anonymous town paper of the Lady Whistledown variety, A Town with Half the Lights On is a tender testament to the notions that home isn't just the place you live, family isn't just your relatives, and it's almost never easy to find the courage to do what's right.

About the Author

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Page Getz is an author, teacher, and journalist who spent half her life in Kansas and the other half in California, working as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times and Pacifica Radio. Her work appears in many publications, reconciling themes of diaspora, mysticism, addiction, classism, labor justice, queerness, and small towns. She lives with her family and dogs in Vancouver, where she holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia. She is still recovering from the wayward youth and pathological idealism that inspires her work.

Praise For…

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"Some books reach the world just when they're needed most. A Town with Half the Lights On is that book. This clever tribute to small towns, big hearts, and the people who make life worth living will renew your faith in humanity and make you long for a Goodnight, Kansas of your own." — Lucy Gilmore, author of The Lonely Hearts Book Club

"Like a warm hug just when you need it, A Town with Half the Lights On will make you believe in second chances again. And seriously contemplate moving to Kansas to open a diner." — New York Times bestselling author of The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend and The Murders in Great Diddling

"Big-hearted, funny and brimming with charm, this novel will be sure to stay with readers long after they finish the last page. I know I'll be carrying Goodnight, Kansas with me from here on out." — Cat Shook, author of If We're Being Honest

"Bitingly humorous with a cast of characters who will both warm your heart and chat your ear off, A Town with Half the Lights On is sensational. Page Getz weaves small-town charm with candid internality, harkening for readers their own sense of home and the mosaic of people who live there. 'If you fry it, they will come!' When Page Getz writes it, we'll all want second helpings!" — Mallory Tater, author of This Will be Good and The Birth Yard

"This novel is perfect! It’s a very funny book about an extremely serious town, Goodnight, Kansas, and its solid citizens making a glorious mess of their lives to the delight of the reader, and all the while revealing our shared humanity like a necessary tonic in our soulless, cell phone-scrolling times. The wit is astounding by any measure, and the different strands pulled together masterfully, a testament to her artistry." — Stephen D. Gutierrez, author of Captain Chicano Draws a Line in the American Sand