Lowell author Emma Palova will be signing her new book ‘The Lost Town’ at Earth Stories Jewelry during the Blue Coast Artist tour on Oct. 1 & 2 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The gallery (station 7 on the map) is located one mile south of Saugatuck/Douglas, which is the setting of this historical fiction novel.

The Lost Town press release

Lowell, MI – The Lost Town, a historical fiction novel set in the ghost town of Singapore during the pioneer era of the 1830s, is the third book in the Shifting Sands series published in the summer of 2022.

Author Emma Palova of Lowell captured the spirit of the once thriving lumbering town in its main characters beautiful Miss Ida of Chicago and her boss lumber baron John Bosch.

The story unravels as the greedy New York investors set their eyes on the undeveloped land at the Oxbow bend in the Kalamazoo River surrounded by sand dunes with the much-coveted white pines.

Wily Oshea established the New York & Michigan Co. to facilitate the development of Singapore in 1836. The investors envisioned that Singapore would rival Chicago and Milwaukee. With its humming mills, boarding houses, hotels, and general stores at the height of its prosperity, Singapore almost outshone Chicago.

The name remains a mystery, as its famous counterpart island city in East Asia was only a fledgling town at the time.

“The mysterious name inspired me to write this novel,” Palova said.

The novel covers the entire span of Singapore’s existence from the 1830s to its demise in the 1870s. At one point the town was known as Ellis Island since it accepted immigrants from European countries like Norway and Holland. The town was the first stop for Hollanders before they moved further up north and established Holland. It existed before Saugatuck which was smaller and known as Flats.

According to one interpretation, the exotic name was used to honor the “singing sands” of the Lake Michigan shore. The shape of the grains and the moisture combine to make the sand sing or squeak when someone walks on it. Palova will have book signings in the Greater Grand Rapids area and during Blue Coast Artists event on Oct. 1 & 2 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Earth Stories Jewelry at 2742 68^th St. Fennville.

The Lost Town in the media

WGVU Morning Show with Shelley Irwin, Sept. 14

https://www.wgvunews.org/the-wgvu-morning-show/2022-09-14/the-lost-town

Holland Sentinel, Sept. 23

https://www.hollandsentinel.com/story/entertainment/books/2022/09/23/lowell-author-sets-historic-fiction-the-lost-town-in-west-michigans-singapore/69505191007/

The Lowell Ledger, July 13

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