BookFrontier
A Town With Half the Lights on by Page Getz

Book

A Town With Half the Lights on

A Novel

Page Getz

Sourcebooks · Print & ebook · April 22, 2025

Reading lane: Literary Fiction

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.

At a Glance

Why This Clicks

Family Friction

A quietly observant family novel with enough bite to keep the pages moving.

Come here for

  • family tensions with a domestic, literary edge
  • an easy entry point for book-club conversation

Expect

  • sibling friction and marriage strain
  • a sustained, immersive read

Book Details

Authors
Page Getz
Publisher
Sourcebooks
Published
April 22, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Literary Fiction · Epistolary Fiction
Reading lane
Literary Fiction

Affinity

Publisher Categories

  • Literary Fiction

  • Epistolary Fiction

  • Small-Town Fiction

About This Book

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 resid...

Read full description

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.

Similar Books