My novel Ring is available for pre-order! It will be shipped in January. Pre-order is a way to support a book, because the number purchased during the pre-order period affects things like whether and in what volume physical bookstores carry it.
Ring is available on Bookshop.org, which I prefer because it supports local bookstores. My publisher, Bancroft Press, prefers Amazon because purchases there affect rankings which then affect other things I won’t pretend to understand. Ring is also available online from Barnes and Noble, which once-upon-a-time I boycotted because it was driving small bookstores out of business, until Amazon told it to hold its beer. Now it seems like a family business in comparison so I’m including that link too.
Ring is being released as a trade paperback rather than solely as a hardcover, so the price is lower. It’s a good book club book for any group that likes literary fiction or books with LGBTQ+ characters or books about animals or that wants to read about grief or depression, as it delves into a lot of philosophical issues that provoke discussion. After the book is out I’d be happy to attend any book club that so desires, in person if near me or online. As a trigger warning, there is some discussion in the novel of suicide and suicidal ideation.
thanks for your support,
Michelle
Ring: A Novel at Barnes & Noble
Read an excerpt from the novel in Shenandoah Literary Magazine.
Shenandoah has also published my craft essay, “A Grief Explored,” about the writing of the novel.
Editorial Reviews
As the editor of a literary magazine, I love the opportunity to champion novel excerpts. I remember reading RING for the first time. I was immediately immersed in its world, transported to this cold, insular place―a sanctuary both comforting and fraught. The characters all felt so precise, united by grief, but singular in their expressions of it. Lee’s grief in particular pulsated through those pages, even as its exact source was a mystery. I was enthralled, and excited by the questions the book raised about community and care. I could tell the novel would be a published book, and I was thrilled to bring a small piece of it to Shenandoah’s readers. Of all of the novel excerpts we’ve published, this remains one of my favorites, and I’m even more thrilled now that the book is out in the world.
– BETH STAPLES, EDITOR, SHENANDOAH
RING is truly a balm for the psyche. I will never forget this beautiful book.
– POROCHISTA KHAKPOUR, AUTHOR OF THE MEMOIR SICK AND OTHER BOOKS
A beautiful story of a journey fueled by grief and steeped in love. The pages turned themselves for me.
– AMY B. SCHER, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THIS IS HOW I SAVE MY LIFE
With care and sensitivity, Lerner’s gripping book RING takes readers on a journey into Northern Canada to address grief, mental health, suicide, and healing. All too often, the James Bay region is depicted in a bleak portrait, with media coverage highlighting images of despair. In contrast, RING offers strength in connection to the landscapes and more-than-human worlds that animate the main character’s grieving process and healing journey. The emotional depth of this novel appears in each sensory detail―the crunch of snow, the taste of cleansing meals, and the touch of companionship to confront feelings of alienation. Readers wanting to learn more about the shadows of loss against the backdrop of Canadian colonialism and the brilliant light of community life when confronting hardship will be inspired and moved by this book. It belongs in the hands of teachers, health professionals, and anyone ready to envision and enact brighter worlds.
– SARAH MARIE WIEBE, AUTHOR OF LIFE AGAINST STATES OF EMERGENCY
Michelle Lerner’s background as a poet illuminates both the language and story arc of Ring, a novel about recovery after wrenching loss. From the name of the title character, the dog Ring (whose recurring presence acts as a bell slowly tolling to draw the protagonist back to life) to the pitch-perfect descriptions of an icy retreat, this meditation on sorrow shines with well-crafted sentences that feel as if the author is singing you the song of life and death. Lerner doesn’t hide her environmental sensibilities in this tale, as she leads the reader through a New Age camp for those pondering whether to continue or to stop their personal journeys. At times dark and unsettling, RING ultimately pulls readers to the brilliant glow of the Northern Lights.
– LIBBY STERNBERG, AUTHOR OF THE NOVEL DAISY
Unique and powerful, RING is a stunning, hypnotic book.
– ELLEN PALL, AUTHOR OF THE ACCLAIMED NOVEL PLEASE WRITE
In RING, Michelle Lerner’s riveting and moving novel, a non-binary parent who has lost their beloved daughter travels to a remote sanctuary in northern Ontario, Canada to prepare themself spiritually to walk into the desolate, snow-covered landscape and end their life. At the sanctuary, they learn various practices that will help them to have a meaningful, conscious death if they decide to go through with it. Compulsively readable and highly recommended.
– JEANNE WINER, AUTHOR OF HER KIND OF CASE, A NOVEL WHICH RECEIVED STARRED REVIEWS FROM KIRKUS, BOOKLIST, AND LIBRARY JOURNAL