Rare is the great work of fiction set in North Dakota, but I found one.

Peace Like A River By Leif Enger is a book of themes: Prayer, Outlaws, Asthma and breathing in general, Teddy Roosevelt and the Badlands of North Dakota. Reuben Land's father is a deeply religious and performs miracles, or perhaps he channels the Lord - - even Reuben's own birth was something of a miracle.

The story really gets going when the family embarks on a journey of discovery through the depths of an early 1960's North Dakota winter in search of their fugitive brother, Davy, a sixteen year old boy who gunned down the town bullies. Lawmen, the feds, and an outlaw throw themselves in the path of the quest, yet Reuben, his sister, Swede, and their father trudge on through the snow, cold, and Badlands toward their destiny.

The novel is sweeping in scope and beautiful, even lyrical, in its writing. It's been a long time since a story held me on the power of the scene descriptions alone. Oh, Enger could have told the story in much less time, but his pacing was perfectly slow and perfectly matched to the country through which his characters moved. More interesting than a Rushdie story, more significant than a Naipaul, and just as beautiful as a Gabriel Garcia Marquez tale. And like Marquez, Enger folds magical realism into the plot subtly, formed as the possible result of spiritual intervention.

I recommend this for anyone who wants to experience a North Dakota winter without donning a parka and for anyone who wants to root for the bad guy, because sometimes good people do bad things for a good reason.