Title: Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club
Author: J. Ryan Stradal

Source: Pasco County Library System
Publication Date: April 18, 2023
Synopsis: Goodreads
Purchase Link: Amazon

Other books by this author: Kitchens of the Great Midwest, The Lager Queen of Minnesota

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Why did I choose to read this book?

I am not from the Midwest, but I am from the rural Northeast, which is close enough. Kitchens of the Great Midwest is one of my favorite books of all time, and there is no one who writes about small town politics/food/culture and its effects on the people who live there quite like J. Ryan Stradal. If you know, you know. The Lager Queen of Minnesota was not as good (but still good!) so I was bound to read Stradal’s next novel. I requested it on NetGalley but was declined so I waited for a copy at my local library.

What is this book about?

Generational and personal trauma, familial expectations and assumed obligations, passive aggressive behavior, and matriarchal guilt machines. Again, if you know, you know.

What is notable about this story?

Stories that allow their characters to choose their own paths always rank highly with me. This book starts as a tightly closed flower bud, choices few and far between, but as the story grows so do the opportunities for choosing and before you know it you’re beholding a beautiful sunflower. A connecting idea here is that great things can grow from terrible circumstances, it just takes time. J. Ryan Stradal is an expert at writing the passage of time while honoring the traditions of their characters.

I have not read a story in a long while that grabbed me by the throat so suddenly at the twist and threw me to the ground sobbing. Completely out of left field, I didn’t even see it coming. I’m thankful I was reading alone during my morning quiet time because I might have ugly cried a bit.

Stradal is always very honest about how cruel a rural/close-knit community can be, it’s something I’ve always loved about his writing. Living in a small town seems nice until you piss off the wrong person or eat at the wrong restaurant or say the wrong thing within earshot of the wrong person, then you deal with the terrible consequences. People love to romanticize “small town America” but goddamn will they hand you a hot dish with one hand and then slap you with the other one. This is neither bad nor good, it’s just the culture of the thing.

Was anything not so great?

Lakeside Supper Club was a huge win for me after reading Lager Queen, but my biggest complaint is also one of my most notables: the twist. There is just constant grief and upheaval in this plot and just when you think everything is okay, that you’ve made room for all the sadness and terrible past events, there’s more. For me, this was just heartbreaking. I know that this is just how life works – I continue to amaze myself at how much anger and sadness I can hold – but I couldn’t have just a few nice chapters instead of a few nice paragraphs? I didn’t even get a second to breathe before I was knocked to the pavement again. Brutal. But like I said just above in the notables, Stradal does not shy away from this kind of truthful writing, so while this was a complaint I had, I still appreciated the story as a whole.

What’s the verdict?

This one’s a 5 star rating on Goodreads and I will keep recommending J. Ryan Stradal books to everyone until I am blue in the face. If you come from a small town – and I’m talking “drive an hour to the grocery store” kind of small town, not the suburbs – you have to read his books. They are for YOU.