“Joanna Rose’s beautifully lyric novel is a gift: the work of a true storyteller. Her quiet, careful wonderment nourishes our souls.”
—Paulann Petersen, Oregon Poet Laureate Emerita
“As a fan of Joanna Rose’s groundbreaking novel, Little Miss Strange, I was eager to read the next, A Small Crowd of Strangers. Lucky readers— this novel, too, is buoyant, tender, and it’s so easy to invest in her lively characters and the gorgeously described landscape. At the center of the novel is Pattianne Anthony, a quirky reference librarian who is smart and witty, but who also tends to make major life choices on a whim. It’s Pattianne’s discovery of self that most captivates through these pages— her budding realization that she has let life lead her instead of her leading life. As Pattianne ventures out, we witness her profound discoveries about love, family, faith, and the abiding strength of an eclectic community, and in this way Rose’s novel becomes sweetly intimate, a joy to read.”
—Debra Gwartney, author of I Am a Stranger Here Myself
Praise for Little Miss Strange, Joanna Rose’s debut novel
“This is a wondrous, uncanny book, like few others you will have read. . . . A story so assured and accomplished that it seems the work of a seasoned novelist at the peak of her talent.”
— Floyd Skloot, The Oregonian
“Little Miss Strange is a novel boldly reminding us that peace, love, and happiness weren’t the only things to come out of the sixties and seventies…a gloriously descriptive novel, packed with colorful details reminiscent of the dream, the era of free-love left behind.”
— Molly MacDermot, Redbook
“Sarajean’s account of her life and experiences are bound to embed themselves thoroughly in a reader’s memory.”
— Candace Horgan, The Denver Post
The ending alone may be as perfect as any novel written this year. Four stars.”
— Barbara Holliday, Detroit News/Free Press