UW–Madison alumnus Andrew Lifson is the author of “Rogues in a Nation,” a new Wisconsin-based novel published by Little Creek Press in March 2026.
Lifson earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the School of Education in 1983 and 1985. For more than three decades, he worked as an elementary school teacher for the Wisconsin Heights School District and with Madison public schools.
“Rogues in a Nation” follows Valerie Lisowski, a veteran psychiatric nurse, as she returns to her hometown in Appleton during the turbulent McCarthy era. As her father recounts his past, Valerie uncovers a story shaped by propaganda, political intrigue, Cold War tensions, and the unsettling reality of how ordinary individuals can become involved in significant wrongdoing.
According to the publisher, the novel “intertwines personal memory with national history to explore how private choices echo across generations.” It is described as “powerful, cinematic, and deeply human,” asking: “What do we owe to the truth — and to each other — when the past refuses to stay buried?”
“Rogues in a Nation” is available to purchase via Little Creek Press and other outlets.