The Dog of the North -- Elizabeth McKenzie - Hardcover

From the National Book Award-longlisted author of The Portable Veblen

*One of Kirkus's Top 10 Novels for 2023*

Penny Rush has problems. Her marriage is over; she's quit her job. Her mother and stepfather went missing in the Australian outback five years ago; her mentally unbalanced father provokes her; her grandmother Dr. Pincer keeps experiments in the refrigerator and something worse in the woodshed. But Penny is a virtuoso at what's possible when all else fails.

Elizabeth McKenzie, beloved novelist of California and its idiosyncrasies, follows Penny on her quest for a fresh start. There will be a road trip in the Dog of the North, an old van with gingham curtains, a piñata, and stiff brakes. There will be injury and peril. There will be a dog named Kweecoats and two brothers who may share a toupee. There will be questions: Why is a detective investigating her grandmother, and what is "the scintillator"? And can Penny recognize a good thing when it finally comes her way?

This slyly humorous, thoroughly winsome novel finds the purpose in life's curveballs, insisting that even when we are painfully warped by those we love most, we can be brought closer to our truest selves.

Author: Elizabeth McKenzie
Publisher: Penguin Press
Published: 03/14/2023
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.13lbs
Size: 9.28h x 6.32w x 1.16d
ISBN: 9780593300695

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 10/01/2022 pg. 3
Kirkus Reviews 01/01/2023
Publishers Weekly 01/16/2023
Booklist 02/15/2023 pg. 18

About the Author
Elizabeth McKenzie is the author of the novel The Portable Veblen, which was longlisted for the National Book Award and shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize; a collection, Stop That Girl, shortlisted for The Story Prize; and the novel MacGregor Tells the World, a Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and Library Journal Best Book of the Year. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, and was recorded for NPR's Selected Shorts.