Keillor revisits prarie home in new novel

ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 10 (UPI) -- “A Prairie Home Companion” creator Garrison Keillor’s latest novel “Pontoon,” due in stores this week, revisits familiar ground for the writer -- Minnesota.

The novel follows the strange events that occur when Mist County, Minn., resident Evelyn Peterson dies at age 82, The St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press reported.

Keillor’s fans can anticipate plot elements like secret lovers, Danish pastors and giant fiberglass ducks, the newspaper said. But the novel also gets into more serious topics like religious faith and doubt.

The book is relatively short, only 248 pages, which made it easy to write, Keillor said.

The first of his 15 books, “Lake Wobegon Days,” was a best-seller when it was published in 1985.

Keillor’s new ambition, he told the Press, is to direct a movie.