She answered the call of the wind. Now, it is calling her daughter.
Writer and environmentalist Ariel inherited the gift of flight and a special connection to the natural world. She talks to the wind, walks the sky, and calms storms. She is dedicated to protecting her town, which is in the grips of environmental change.
When she has a daughter, Ariel must keep the family secrets and navigate the updrafts and downfalls of parenting a child who can fly. Sound easy? Not exactly, especially when a mysterious cousin shows up—demanding to know the truth about a family of women who can fly.
Down Here soars with a sweet and enchanting blend of magical story, small-town sensibility, and heartwarming love.
Readers first met Ariel in Up There, winner of the 2024 Minnesota Indie Author Project. However, readers do not have to read Up There to enjoy Down Here. They can be read as standalones or as companions.
“Sherry Roberts has done it again. Down Here, the follow-up to her delightful novel Up There, is another utterly charming and believable fantasy about flying. We return to the village of Cosette, Minnesota, and the characters we fell in love with in the previous novel. Their perils are timely, their loves timeless. Enjoy.”
—Faith Sullivan, Author of Good Night Mr. Wodehouse
“In Down Here, author Sherry Roberts has crafted a dazzling, beautiful story of resilience, bravery, and reconciliation. In this well-written novel, a family must grasp the challenges of a secret, special condition inherited by the women—the ability to fly. Believing she can hide this secret and thus protect her husband and young daughter, writer and environmentalist Ariel considers a run for a public office in their Minnesota small town. But can any of us excel if we’re not being authentic? Unfortunately, Ariel’s wishes—and maybe her indecisions—bring danger and unexpected turbulence to her family and friends. The novel continues the superb story introducing Ariel, Up There.”
—Christine DeSmet, Mystery author and writing instructor
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From the Book
There are two worlds: Up There and Down Here.
Up There is the name for the wind and sky.
Down Here is everything that is not Up There: the ordinary grind, the arguments and the resolutions, the meanness, the kindness—and the secrets.
Review: St. Paul Pioneer Press
Readers and writers: A magical novel that leaves readers soaring
By Mary Ann Grossmann | mgrossmann@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press
PUBLISHED: November 16, 2025 at 5:41 AM CST
“Down Here”: by Sherry Roberts (Osmyrrah Publishing, $20)
In 2023 Sherry Roberts introduced readers to Ariel in her novel “Up There.” Ariel has the gift of levitating and riding the wind. After an accident she turns her back on her powers until she returns to her Minnesota hometown of Cosette. “Down Here” is a sequel as magical as the first book. Ariel has stayed in Cosette, married nice, caring Ruddy and has a daughter who carries the same gift of wind riding as her mother. Ariel remembers how she was considered a freak in school because she wore weighted shoes that kept her grounded. Now, she is trying to keep her daughter Meri from the same problem while also training the 5-year-old to ride the winds that Ariel, sometimes, can summon. Ruddy hates it when his wife and daughter step into the sky, but he can only be their steady rock when they come down.
Meri is good at following her parents’ rules about not going Up There alone, but she can’t resist the lure of her mother’s impulsive cousin Trouble, who has certainly earned her name. Trouble is obsessed with finding the farm home where matriarchs of Ariel’s maternal Hamilton family lived. Roberts takes us deep into the Hamiltons’ background, including which women had the gift, which chose to use or not use it, and how difficult is was for Up There to be understood by the men in their lives.
There are lyrical passages taking us with Ariel and Meri as they drift on breezes at night. And when a terrible storm hits, it’s up to Ariel to make a big decision.
Roberts writes contemporary fiction and cozies. “Up There” won the Minnesota Indie Author Project.
Teaser quote from the review: “Standing with Ruddy on the edge of the meadow, she buzzed with excitement, energized by the swirling air. Here she felt the ultimate connection with Up There — her name for the wind and sky that swept her out of this world and into another. In Up There, Ariel could be strong and fearless, the complete opposite of how she felt on land.”
