Expedition is the story of a life upended. When water quality specialist Margo Webster returns from Africa following her recovery from an unknown ailment, something seems off. Although the doctors from the nonprofit sponsoring her work gave Margo a clean bill of health, when she arrives in Chicago, she’s still experiencing troubling symptoms—a heightened sense of smell, hallucinations, and severe memory loss. When Margo tries to investigate, she is thwarted, and the nonprofit organization insists she never left the country. The novella follows Margo on her quest to uncover answers and find a path forward. While the truth evades her, Margo discovers allies and a surprise paranormal power. Maybe. -Megan Giddings, author of Lakewood and The Women Could Fly Expedition sits in an unexpected and thrilling overlap between do-we-have-our-first-52-year-old-woman-Bourne-Identity-style-thriller or is this a woman on the verge of unleashing curious psychic potential, and a lovely meditation on loneliness. Vogrin entertains readers with Margo Webster's thoughtful and clear voice while giving them the space to consider their own relationships to reality. -Caitlin Horrocks, author of The Vexations and Life Among the Terranauts This suspenseful novella is alternately eerie and funny, enigmatic and specific. Valerie Vogrin's exploration of what happens when a previous life is demolished is also a mesmerizing cataloging of what we rebuild with, from fragile trust to pizza rolls. I didn't want to stop reading. -Anthony Varallo, author of What Did You Do Today? Reader, prepare yourself to meet Margo, a woman either at wit's end or on the verge of transcendence, or possibly both. In Valerie Vogrin's propulsive and often hilarious novella, Expedition, we are taken for a short spin by a narrator who hasn't quite gotten it all figured out yet, but whose fears, doubts, and anxieties nonetheless feel like our own. -Jamey Bradbury, author of The Wild Inside Valerie Vogrin's Expedition is a taut, unsettling novella about the meaning of self. What starts as a mystery rife with paranoia becomes a study of discovery, then blossoms into a story about the strength and affirmation of female friendships. Expedition stays with you like the remnants of a disquieting dream. -Kyle Minor, author of Praying Drunk I've been waiting a long time for a new Valerie Vogrin book, and Expedition is even weirder and smarter and more beautiful than I had dared hope. Valerie Vogrin's work has been supported by residencies at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies. Valerie received her MFA from the University of Alabama. She's a professor of creative writing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She lives with her husband, dog, and cat on a tiny unnamed lake in Moro, Illinois.