The Springs

A small town. A huge grief. A struggle to see a way forward.

Larry Ahearne’s death in Afghanistan has had a traumatic effect on his friends and family back in Painter’s Springs. His best friend Alaric Morgan—who witnessed Larry’s last moments—suffers from PTSD-induced mutism, which has forced him to leave the army; only his young niece Isabella seems to understand the depths of his distress.

Larry’s sister Marty, an artist who is stalled in her tracks, bears the brunt of their mother’s grief and fury, only supported by her friend and housemate Caro and Caro’s daughter Sophie. The one thing they all have in common, though, is Larry’s 1971 Bronco, in storage since his enlistment. Now, restoring that truck is the one thing that might hold them all together.




Genre: Literary Fiction

"A literary novel of grief, friendship, disappointment, pain, and renewal, Anne Britting Oleson's THE SPRINGS slips the reader into the intertwined lives of a group of characters-each dealing with their own conflicts and personal issues-and explores the ways we connect, clash, and ultimately live with one another.... This is the kind of book you savor, not rush through. The sadness is tempered with acts of kindness, moments of great tenderness, and beauty of language... there is the sense that faith in the wellsprings of humanity, friendship, and community might likewise be restored." - Shelley Burbank