In Laurie Hertzel’s new memoir, “Ghosts of Fourth Street: My Family, a Death, and the Hills of Duluth,” she recalls old tales that haunt her family. A Minnesota Book Award winner and former Minnesota Star Tribune books editor, Hertzel grew up in Duluth, the seventh of 10 kids raised by a reticent mother worn down by domestic obligations and a verbose father with petit bourgeois aspirations. The book leads up to a tragedy that took place in 1966 when Hertzel was 9 years old—an accident that forever changed her family.
In vignettes, Hertzel portrays her father as a contender for the Bad Dad Hall of Fame. He eats breakfast in bed while his wife toils, teases his children with nicknames they hate, and poisons the atmosphere with his volatile moods. Hertzel’s enigmatic oldest brother, Bobby, creates conflict when he sneaks out late at night and skips mandatory family dinners. Hertzel characterizes herself as a curious and bookish people pleaser, who roams the edges of her neighborhood and observes her dysfunctional family.
Vivid descriptions bring to life the crowded Hertzel home, a gray clapboard character with a creepy basement book room, 10-foot drafty ceilings, and a glitchy front door lock. While the book-propelling tension of an impending death lurks in the dark, dusty corners of the house on Fourth Street, there are brighter anecdotes. When Hertzel isn’t vying for space in the bedroom she shares with three of her sisters, she hides in the bathroom to read in peace, glimpses Lake Superior from an attic dormer window, and bakes Nestlé chocolate chip cookies on windy wintry nights.
Fans of Minnesota history and family memoirs will enjoy reading about Hertzel’s less-than-charmed girlhood during a period when doctors prescribed nightly martinis as a high blood pressure curative, girls had just three career choices (secretary, teacher, or nurse), and a kid could sell a typewriter for gas money to run away from home. (Available March 31, 2026. $24.95, University of Minnesota Press, 152 pages.)
Can’t-Miss Events
Hertzel is set to celebrate the March 31 launch of “Ghosts of Fourth Street” with two exciting local events this April. Join Hertzel for in-depth discussions with fellow writers and an opportunity to have your book signed.
April 2, 6 p.m. | Next Chapter Booksellers
Fresh off the March 31 release of “Ghosts of Fourth Street,” Hertzel will be joined in conversation by poet, essayist, literary critic Michael Kleber-Diggs at Next Chapter Booksellers. Attendees can purchase copies of both authors’ books in-store, and have them signed by authors proceeding the conversation. Event is free and open to the public. 38 Snelling Ave. S., St. Paul
April 6, 7 p.m. | Magers & Quinn Booksellers
Laurie Hertzel will be joined by award-winning Hmong American teacher, speaker, and writer Kao Kalia Yang for an engaging conversation about her newly released memoir “Ghosts of Fourth Street: My Family, a Death, and the Hills of Duluth.” The event is free and open to the public, registration required. 3038 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis
