leeward Publishing
What Remains - An Adult parable of grief, resilience, and gratitude
Pre-Sales Open now. Reserve your signed copy before Nov 1st.
“A deep dive into the natural world and the transcendence of grief through the Odawa legend of the Sleeping Bear.”
— Bob Downes - best-selling author of Raw Deal - The Indians of the Midwest and the Theft of Native Lands.
What Remains - Synopsis
A Literary Parable
A mother bear. A park interpreter. Two losses, centuries apart, on the same stretch of Michigan shore.
Long ago, Waubun leads her two cubs into Lake Michigan to escape a forest fire. Sixty miles of open water. Then the storm. She reaches the far shore alone, and her long vigil on the dune becomes the legend that gave Sleeping Bear its name.
Today, Janet tells Waubun’s story to visitors at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. She traded a banking career for the dunes. She has lived through a lost job and a divorce. What she never mentions is Ben, the son who lived for two days.
Her friend Mimi helps Janet by getting her out in nature and providing the kind of wisdom only dear friends can. Then a memoir class they both take starts teaching her to journal. Prompt by prompt, Janet moves closer to the name she has kept silent.
Told in alternating storylines, the two narratives echo each other without ever meeting. Both ask the same question: After loss, what remains worthy of your attention, even now?
Short, honest, and rooted in place, What Remains blends nature writing, an ageless Anishinaabe legend, and the slow work of grief. It respects how long loss lasts and shows how a life gets rebuilt anyway.
About Leeward Publishing
Leeward Publishing is a small press located in Traverse City, Michigan. We specialize in fiction and nonfiction works, using evidence-based research to create learning and change for our readers. Our debut publication is Bill Palladino’s adult parable on grief, resilience, and gratitude, WHAT REMAINS.
A NOTE ON HOW WE SELL OUR BOOKS:
Like so many other industries, publishing has changed significantly over the last decade. We started Leeward to retain as much control of our work as possible. From marketing to royalties, the giants in this sector are squeezing authors and artists at every turn. We’ve chosen to sell our books directly to the public for at least the initial wave of sales around the launch. Eventually, each title will make its way to Amazon and the other large-scale purveyors. For now, you can only purchase from us on this website and via our partner, Curios.com. When you buy one of our books, our staff will package it and address it to you. So, thank you in advance.