Genie’s Bottle is an enjoyable tale by a local author, with a lovely cover illustration by Anna Hess of Lutsen.
If you like a book that includes romance, mystery, philosophy, and sailing, you’ll enjoy Berta Bauer’s Genie’s Bottle. Berta is a wife, mother, homemaker and a life coach who encourages her clients to “Be in choice” as a part of her life coaching, and who just happens to live on the North Shore of our beautiful Lake Superior.
Bauer tells the story of the entwined, troubled, journeys of three main characters against the backdrop of the Duluth Harbor and St. Louis River Basin from May Day to Memorial Day.
The story begins with Dr. Rickkert “Rikk” Harmon, a surgeon at a Duluth hospital, in a halfawake state hearing the impossible—the voice of his wife Lauren, who had passed away from cancer a year and a half before. Rikk imagines her encouraging him in his new adventure as a boat owner. “…She’ll not be your mistress for long. Oh, Rick, she’ll bring you much more than companionship,” he heard her say.
Rikk enjoyed sailing, but hadn’t pursued his desire to own a sailboat because his late wife had a fear of the water. But, feeling lost without her, he had ordered an elite Ocean Sail Quest boat, referred to as an OSQ.
As he heads to accept delivery of the boat, little does he know the “much more” would be found at Minnesota Point in the form of Captain Kara McKee and the Genie’s Bottle.
Kara McKee, a captain, a widow and life coach, is the owner of a sleek sailboat named Genie’s Bottle. Kara also finds much more as she encounters Rikk in a most unusual way.
Overseeing the budding relationship between the two is Dutch, a loveable curmudgeon and an avid fisherman who captains his family-built fishing boat, the Miss Sea, who has his own secrets that make him abrupt and nosey. But as the story develops you will find his life and reasons so understandable and you will grow to like him too.
Genie’s Bottle is a light summer read, best enjoyed by the water. Toss it in your canoe or backpack and enjoy!
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