Place of Hawks — S.T. Joshi

August Derleth (1909–1971) is one of the greatest writers ever produced by the state of Wisconsin. Over the course of decades, he wrote novels, stories, poems, and other work embodying his distinctive vision of the state and its inhabitants, both historically and in his own time. Many of his works are set in the fictitious town of Sac Prairie, loosely based upon his hometown of Sauk City and the surrounding area. The first important work of the Sac Prairie saga is Place of Hawks (1935), a series of four novellas that carefully etch the loves and torments of the denizens of the town. The tales are written from the perspective of Stephen Grendon, a teenage boy (and stand-in for the author) who accompanies his grandfather, a physician, on his rounds. In lyrical and richly textured prose, Derleth focuses intensely on the conflicting emotions of his characters amidst the beauty of the rural Wisconsin landscape.