Trash to Treasure

by Avalina Buikema
(Chelsea, MI)

I've been picking up a few first editions at garage and library sales to sell on the internet. After visiting your website and reading your monthly newsletters, I decided to start keeping some debut novels for myself.

My latest aquisition is The Cradle by Patrick Somerville. I was at a rummage sale in an unheated building in December in Michigan. I picked through all the old encyclopedias, textbooks and trashed kids books.

I found a few first editions I thought I could sell and took an armful to the counter. I decided to go back for one more look and found my treasure buried in the bottom of a box. For the small price of a dollar, I found a first edition of The Cradle in fine condition.

Patrick Somerville has published a book of stories, but The Cradle is his first novel.

Somerville is from Wisconsin and his book takes the reader through several Mid-Western states on a quest for his pregnant wife's cradle; taken by her mother years before. It's a wonderful read.