THIS IS HOME. Melissa Faliveno, essayist and Midwest-born author, will soon return to her Wisconsin roots for a book tour, celebrating the release of Hemlock (pictured center) in January. Faliveno will be at Dotters Books in downtown Eau Claire on Feb. 18 for a read-aloud and literary discussion.

New York-based author and essayist Melissa Faliveno felt strongly about bringing her latest novel, Hemlock, back to her Midwestern roots – specifically Wisconsin – for its book tour.

This month, she will do just that. Faliveno invites readers to explore the “coming-of-addiction,” desire and transcendence which unfolds across Hemlock's pages. Dotters Books (307 S. Barstow St., Eau Claire) will host a discussion and book talk with Faliveno and local readers at 6:15pm on Feb. 18.

Just one part of a series Faliveno will continue throughout February, the Eau Claire event offers a space for her audience to connect with the novel, plus the chance to reunite with friends and family, she said.

“It was very important to me to bring this book home – by which I mean the Midwest, and in particular Wisconsin,” Faliveno said. “I wasn’t able to tour for my first book (Tomboyland), because it came out in the summer of 2020, so it’s really special to me that I get to do this for Hemlock.”

Hemlock tells the story of a woman, Sam, who grapples with a wave of “dark inheritance,” Faliveno said. As many Midwesterners can relate, the story begins “as it always does, with a beer.”

During a practical trip back to the Wisconsin Northwoods – where Sam's mother disappeared, never to return – takes a strange turn when Sam's surroundings begin to assume a new shape. As the boundaries of reality dissolve, she senses a sinister force afoot, creeping around the forest and in the nooks of her mind.

The novel evokes themes of generational influences, rejection, transformation and other life experiences – though fictionalized in Hemlock – which Wisconsinities, including Faliveno, have witnessed firsthand.

Melissa Faliveno, pictured. (Photo by Anna M. Maynard)

“So much of this book is about silence, and the things we don’t say. Which, in my experience, is a big part of the Midwestern way of being,” Faliveno said. “It’s hard to talk about things like addiction and inheritance, especially in a place like Wisconsin.

“I still have a hard time doing it out loud, which is one of the reasons I wanted to write this story,” she continued.

Margaret Leonard, owner of Dotters Books, first met Faliveno in Eau Claire at a presentation of Tomboyland at the Chippewa Valley Book Festival in 2023. 

They united over a shared appreciation for local literary communities – including those in the Chippewa Valley – and kept in touch across the years, fueling Faliveno's return to downtown Eau Claire.

Leonard finds Faliveno’s world-building capabilities remarkable, noting her ability to transform a seemingly familiar space – a Northwoods cabin – into something quite unsettling, leaving the reader wanting more.

“In a lot of ways, Hemlock feels like a very familiar story,” Leonard said. “I've been calling it a Queer Northern Gothic in that the house, or in this case cabin, really is a character in itself.”

“The setting feels lived in and her main character, Sam, settles right into a space that is knit to her own identity,” Leonard continued.

Choosing to define one’s identity can often be complex and multifaceted, Faliveno added. Sam’s personal battle with addiction and her gender queerness – amidst the treescapes of the Wisconsin forest – challenge typical portrayals of the environment, prompting readers to examine their own beliefs and assumptions about the Midwest state.

“A diversity of ideas, forms and perspectives is one of the most important things to me as a writer – and as a teacher, and a human, and a person lucky enough to get to tell stories that other people read,” Faliveno said.

This ethos exists in everything Faliveno creates and will be shared with listeners at the upcoming book tour stop in Eau Claire. Her focus is to celebrate Midwestern communities – which are at times neglected – that were instrumental in her growth.

The Feb. 18 event will encapsulate both read-aloud segments of Hemlock from Faliveno, a book signing and space for audience members to ask questions of the novel and her literary works.

“Even though I don’t live in the Midwest currently, I am very much a Midwestern writer, and Midwestern stories and voices are most often what I write and who I write for,” Faliveno said. “So many authors and artists skip over the Midwest entirely in their tours, and I wanted to focus most of my time and energy there, because it’s home.”

Join Dotters Books (307 S Barstow St.) at 6:15pm on Feb. 18 in downtown Eau Claire and Melissa Faliveno for a discussion on their latest novel, Hemlock. Learn more about Faliveno's Midwest upbringing and other literary works online at melissafaliveno.com.