INTERVIEWS

 REVIEWS FOR WHISPERING PINES

Reviewed by Christine Watson for Reader Views
“Whispering Pines” by Elliott Foster is beautifully written story about several generations of one family who enjoy their family cabin along the shores of Lake Dunbar, in rural Minnesota. Part of what makes this story special is that it is written from the perspective of several family members, all of different generations, providing unique viewpoints from each individual.

Isabelle is the first narrator, and she is the matriarch of the family. She and her husband built the cabin on Lake Dunbar, and thus begins the many trips up north for fishing, hunting, playing, bonding, and so much more. Isabelle and her husband, Sam, took many trips north to their cabin on the lake. They often would take other family members as well, including their children, and grandchildren, once they came into the picture. They were known as the loud and boisterous family, always looking for a good time. Most of the family members loved to fish, and that was the main activity that took place while at the cabin. There were good times and heartbreaking events that make the reader laugh, as well as cry.

Ruth is the next narrator, and she is the daughter of Isabelle. When Isabelle is ready to sell the cabin, Ruth and her husband, Ted step in to buy it from her, and keep it in the family. While many of the past visitors of the Lake Dunbar cabin have slowed their visits due to life getting in the way, Ruth and Ted find times to make it up to the cabin with their own children. Ted likes to keep a forest growing at the cabin, so he and his family plant many seedlings in the hopes of creating a beautiful and rich forest one day.

Eddie, Ruth’s son is the last narrator of the story, and he is a lawyer who also wants to keep the cabin in the family. He loves to spend time at the cabin to fish as well as relax.

The author does a wonderful job of inviting the reader into the Travis family. I felt like I belonged, and I had to double check to make sure this was a novel, and not a true story! Although there were hardships in the family, they were there for each other, and cared for each other in a beautiful way.
Its simplicity is what drew me to this story, and I hope to ready many more novels by Elliott Foster! I highly recommend “Whispering Pines” to anyone looking for delightful and easy read."

ReaderViews.com

"Whispering Pines: Tales from a Northwoods Cabin takes place in September of 1993. The Travis family have come together to celebrate the birthday of their matriarch; Isabella Travis. Different members of the family share touching stories about growing up, hunting and fishing, and other antics they have gotten into in the past. The narration is shared by Isabella, her daughter Ruth, and grandson Eddie. Each story unravels memories long forgotten. It all begins with theories of how Lake Dunbar was created and progresses to how the family found their way to Whispering Pine, the family name for their cabin. It’s a fantastic story of building life, making new friends and memories, as well as the changing of traditions to adapt with the times. It is a story of family, faith, and above all, love.

The novel opens with exquisite descriptions of the history and landscape of Lake Dunbar. Readers are able to imagine the giant foot shaped lake Foster describes. The first segment depicts life in the small town Isabella lived in and then how her time was spent at Lake Dunbar which required them to hunt and gather. Foster captures the hardships and emotions the family had to endure such as Stella’s death after her appendix rupturing and Sam’s early death from a heart attack. One of the elements of the novel that was very well done was the different viewpoints. The novel is broken up into three parts, three different generations talking about the family, and reminiscing on their lives together. While each section is from another perspective, the fluidity and tone of the novel remains the same. One can almost picture a soft smile on each narrator’s face. It seems as though Isabella and Ruth had grand ideas of adventure and leaving the area, where as Eddie wanted to preserve the memories he had growing up. This shows how things can change; Isabella and Ruth wanted to travel away from where they grew up and away from the lake altogether. While Eddie realized the beauty and importance of the area where his family started their legacy. Foster has created a compelling story about family, and the places that shape who we become."

RED CITY REVIEW

"Loosely based on both the author's own experiences and his family's cabin journal entries dating back to the 1950s, this novel paints a vivid picture of cabin living on Lake Dunbar in northern Minnesota. Go ahead; immerse yourself in four genrations of cabin tales. We recommend getting comfy in a hammock on a breezy summer day with this one."

CABIN LIFE MAGAZINE

"In Whispering Pines, Foster unearths some of the greatest treasures of Minnesota—her wilderness, history, icons of time and place, and the characters depicted within generations of the Travis family. In this soulful journey, you travel like a ghost, never having to go very far, yet intimately entering the landscape of memories, folklore, and understated Midwestern culture. As a love that comes softly and grows in its magnitude and scope, this vacation place in the Northland beckons stewardship and preservation from all its partakers, readers included."

Carolyn Bizien, The Rural America Writers Center

"A truly Minnesota story, with universal footings for anyone who loves the lake, the woods, the cabin — and the characters who inhabit those places.”

Peter Anthony, author of A Town Called Immaculate

"If Henry David Thoreau made an American icon of the cabin in the Walden Pond woods where he stayed off and on for about two years, Elliott Foster’s cabin is a grittier place in Minnesota’s Northwoods enjoyed by a family for several generations. In writing that is as fresh and clear as the cabin’s lake waters, Foster recalls the simple pleasures and setbacks that make the experience in his beloved “Whispering Pines” getaway not only memorable, but vital to the family’s identity, unity, and durability.”

Emilio Degrazia, Minnesota Book Award Winner

"Elliott Foster paints a detailed picture of cabin life as experienced by three generations of the Travis family. You'll feel like you are one of the family.”

Teresa Thomas, author of How to Tap Into the Power of Win/Win Connections

EXCERPT: INTRODUCTION TO WHISPERING PINES

THE BEGINNING AND THE END

Our story begins and ends on September 15, 1993, in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, a bustling midwestern town of two thousand inhabitants, hugging the banks of the Cannon River halfway between Rochester to the south and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul to the north. Outside of town along U.S. Highway 52 sits The Edgewood. This renowned local supper club is nestled in a growth of tall pine and mighty oaks—the remnants of a great hardwood forest that once swept the fertile plains from the Mississippi to the Missouri rivers. The Edgewood is a respectable establishment with well-dressed patrons. It's a place to order typical midwestern fare like New York strip steaks, broasted chicken, and batter-fried shrimp. And, a baked potato accompanies every meal, as do fresh-brewed coffee and unlimited trips to the salad bar. All for $9.95 per person.

From Minneapolis, two cars sped toward The Edgewood. They quickly passed through the towns of Hampton, Coates, and Vermillion. From the south came two more, bearing down on the Cannon Falls city limits, passing through the hamlets of Pine Island, Zumbro Falls, and Harwood Corners. By 7:30, all had arrived, and the most important was Isabelle. Each had journeyed to The Edgewood this particular evening for a special celebration:
Isabelle's eightieth birthday party.

Our family has been known to transform birthdays into raucous celebrations filled with culinary delights, youthful enthusiasm, and passionate laughter. At Jack's fortieth birthday party, he was ruthlessly roasted by family and friends alike, culminating with his wife's affectionate toast: "Here's to Jack, raise your glass. Here's to Jack, he's a horse's ass!" At Ruth's fiftieth birthday extravaganza, hotel security was summoned as she proudly rode her cherished birthday present, a restored maroon 1948 Roadmaster Luxury Liner bicycle, around the tenth-floor balcony of the Embassy Suites Hotel to the cheers and laughter of those in attendance. When other guests had summoned hotel security to investigate, all the guard could do was suppress his own laughter, and assist the birthday girl in re-attaching her loosened bicycle chain halfway through her route around the hotel's top floor. Isabelle's eightieth birthday party was different. Not that the family avoided laughter on this potentially solemn occasion, for they roasted and teased her thoroughly. In fact, between dinner and cake, each family member took turns at a podium telling "Grandma Stories." With eighty years of material to work with, we continued until well past closing time. Isabelle, after all, had been the matriarch of our family for sixty years. Her strong will, fiery determination, and sense of family were legendary.

As the storytelling progressed, everyone quickly realized most of the stories revolved around our individual and shared experience with Isabelle at the Travis family cabin on Lake Dunbar in northern Minnesota. Our experience is the quintessential northern-Minnesota cabin experience. This is where we began fishing in the 1920s, built a cabin in the 1950s, and lived out our lake country dreams for more than half a century. This too is where we encountered both the famous and infamous of northern Minnesota, including Mona Bell Hill, Helen Bryan, Herb Beer, Dusty Lane & Fiddlin' Russ, and of course the unforgettable Screamer from Squaw Lake. The Travis family's rich story on the shores of Lake Dunbar, as told through the memories of those attending Isabelle's eightieth birthday party on a cool autumn night in 1993, is a tale of natural beauty set in the heart of one of our nation's last vast forests. Ours is a story of joys and triumphs echoing across the generations, as well as a story with sorrows and tragedies that molded the will and strength of this family.

It is indeed a blessed gift to experience life amidst the power of the trees and rivers, with the freshness of the wind always in your presence, and the limitless freedom of the wilderness. Such is the foundation for this sacred place that shaped the lives of the Travis family for four generations, and counting. By the end of the September night in Cannon Falls so many years ago, those assembled had re-told tales of comedy, tragedy, and triumph, virtually the entire story of the family's shared journey through time, and with our neighbors along the shores of Lake Dunbar.

That story, as told in three parts by Grandma Isabelle, her daughter Ruth, and her grandson Eddie, went something like this.