LAURA VOGT

novelist & storyteller

I mean, can we?

Q: How would your friends review your book? 👇 Make me laugh.

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New here? Welcome.

My debut novel, IN THE GREAT QUIET (Lake Union 2026), is a sweeping, atmospheric story in the tradition of COLD MOUNTAIN, THE FOUR WINDS, and WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING. It's inspired by the true story of my grandmother's grandmother, following a tenacious pioneer's race into the great unknown.

In the Oklahoma prairie of 1893, Minnie Hoopes withstands the volatile wilderness and outlaw threats--but her greatest adventure will be confronting her past and finding a place to call home. IN THE GREAT QUIET is a lyrical, immersive story about memory and perception, community and isolation, with an epic, enduring romance at its heart

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@lauravogtbooks

IN THE
GREAT QUIET

INSTAGRAM

forthcoming, Winter 2026 from Lake Union

THE FOUR WINDS

with the lyrical prose, immersive

worldbuilding, and ecofiction of

COLD MOUNTAIN

Based on the life of my grandmother’s grandmother, IN THE GREAT QUIET is an upmarket historical story of 89,000 words. It is a genre-busting blend of history, folklore, hybrid-style, and romance.

• Shortlisted for 2022 Retreat West Opening Lines Competition

• Long Longlisted for 2022 Cheshire Novel Prize

Oklahoma, 1893. High Noon.

It’s the wild west, and in moments, the race begins. Minnie Hoopes flees her past, determined to establish a homestead in outlaw country. At the end of the dangerous race, Minnie, an unmarried woman, has land of her very own—but she also has the blood of two cowboys on her hands. A notorious outlaw helps her hide the bodies, and throughout winter, the sheriff keeps asking questions. When folks start accusing her neighbors, Minnie must decide to either turn herself in—and lose her land—or protect her neighbors from impending vigilante law. Haunted by her secrets, during the long winter nights isolated on her homestead, Minnie hears voices whispering across the prairie. She wonders if she’s losing her grip on her sanity or linking with ancestral memory. In order to survive the wild west, Minnie must reconcile her past, figure out who she can trust, and choose what kind of friend she wants to be. IN THE GREAT QUIET is a dual-timeline, feminist story about memory and perception, isolation versus community, and one’s elemental, propulsive search for home.

Novel - Historical Fiction and Fabulism