Article: Polar Vortex: A Family Memoir (2024)

Denise Dorrance’s Polar Vortex earns its title from the brutal record-breaking "cold wave" that devastated parts of the Midwestern United States and Canada back in 2019, including the lowest-ever recorded temperature in Iowa, which the events here take place. It tells the story of a woman living abroad who suddenly finds herself in charge of caring for her ailing nonagenarian mother.