Arts-Entertainment
A special reading and discussion of the acclaimed novel Harlo will take place on Sunday, February 22nd at 3 pm with Nancy Krogh, wife of author Brian Petersen, who is living with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Harlo tells the story of a man who once had it all—a stable career as a banker in Bozeman, a wife, and two children—before a painful divorce and reckless decisions shatter his life. Retreating to Harlowton, Montana, the landscape of his troubled youth, he slowly rebuilds a place for himself in the very community he once fled. As past choices resurface through the character of Chet Norem, the novel explores consequence, redemption, and the fragile architecture of small-town life.
Petersen’s characters are richly drawn and deeply human, capturing the quirks, loyalties, and tensions that define rural communities. Harlo has received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews and was named one of the Top 100 Indie Books of 2025, one of just seven titles selected in the literary fiction category.
Brian Petersen was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s at the age of 63. He wrote Harlo before his diagnosis but relied on what is known as “cognitive reserve” to complete and submit the manuscript before the disease took his ability to write. After its acceptance by Pronghorn Press—also the publisher of his first novel, Vanish—Petersen’s wife, publisher, and close friends worked together to bring the book to print.
This reading offers the community the opportunity to experience Harlo and to honor the creative life of an author whose voice continues through his work.
Event Details:
- Where: Wheatgrass Books, 120 N Main
- What: Reading from Harlo
- When: Sunday, February 22, 3:00 PM
- Who: Nancy Krogh, wife of author Brian Petersen
- Why: Celebrating an award-winning Montana novel and the power of storytelling
For more information, please contact Lisa Snow at wheatgrassbooks@gmail.com