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SARA RATH

I have enjoyed success in a wide variety of written genres, including poetry, plays, screenplays,  works of fiction and nonfiction. I earned my MFA at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier, VT and an undergraduate degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Awards include fellowships from the Wisconsin Arts Board, the MacDowell Colony and the Ucross Foundation.

Please access my "WORKS" page for more details on my books and further info on my publishing career.

REVIEWS:

  • "With a wicked sense of humor, Rath's work exudes a practical and earthy optimism...Often hilarious, and always engaging."-- Trudy Lewis, University of Missouri–Columbia.
  • Sara Rath brings to life the charm of northern Wisconsin with the patience of an engaging storyteller ..." --David Rhodes, author of Driftless.
  • "Ms. Rath does a agreat job of creating a very human [woman] from centuries-old letters and working those excerpted into Seven Years of Grace."  -- Historical Novel Society.                                                                    
  • "[A] witty blend of the occult, suspense, mystery and a dash of romance . . . With an unexpected ending and moments of laugh-out-loud humor, Rath delivers a satisfying paranormal melodrama."—Publishers Weekly
  • "Star Lake Saloon is a diversion as pleasant as a summer day at the lakeshore." -- Publishers Weekly
  • "H. H. Bennett, Photographer portrays Bennett as a husband, father, entrepreneur, booster, and preservationist and ranks among the best of a mere handful of biographical accounts of a nineteenth-century photographer's life."— Wes Cowan, featured appraiser on PBS' Antiques Roadshow.
  • From ancient myths to a breed encyclopedia to a whimsical look at the fun pop culture surrounding famous cows, "The Complete Cow" has it all. Remarkably readable and inviting, -- Goodreads
  • When Rath tells people she's written a pig book, 'They think that's a big hoot --and it is funny -- but it's serious, too.' She's intrigued with 'the paradox of the pig,' how in different cultures it is either revered or reviled, considered good or bad luck. -- Los Angeles Times
  • Sara Rath's The Complete Pig: An Entertaining History of Pigs contains enough eccentric pig lore to leave the browser giddy with pleasure. And browsing is in order. -- New York Times Book Review

 

 

 

 

 

 









SEVEN YEARS OF GRACE: The Inspired Mission of Achsa W. Sprague.

 

"...a dramatized account of the life of Achsa W. Sprague (1827-1862), who in the decade preceding the American Civil War lectured to audiences of thousands on Spiritualism, the abolition of slavery, women's rights, and prison reform. She presented herself as a medium, lecturing and singing hymns in a state of trance. Alone on stage, she drew acclaim and admiration but also jeers, ridicule and condemnation. A Milwaukee newspaper proclaimed her words "profound twaddle from beginning to end." Yet Achsa's crowds continued to grow in size and enthusiasm." Vermont Historical Society

 

THE WATERS OF STAR LAKE - "Adventure takes Natalie and her eccentric companions from a roadkill picnic to a notorious gangster hideout, from a pristine morning lake to a rowdy bar called The Last Resort. The result is an affectionate portrait of this distinct region and its quirky inhabitants.  Publishers Weekly   5/7/12
 
 
Night Sisters -- "...a witty blend of the occult, suspense, mystery and a dash of romance...With an unexpected ending and moments of laugh-out-loud humor, Rath delivers a satisfying paranormal melodrama." Publisher's Weekly, 9/1/2008


Henry Hamilton Bennett became a celebrated photographer in the half-century following the American Civil War. Bennett is admired for his superb depictions of dramatic landscapes of the Dells of the Wisconsin River and also for his many technical innovations in photography. This engaging biography tells his life story, illustrated throughout with his remarkable photographs, draws on the photographer's own letters and journals to portray the sweep of his career and personal life."-- UW Press