I loved the character Damon (nicknamed Demon) whose captivating coming-of-age story launched me on a roller coaster of emotion.
From the first sentence of the first page, I couldn’t put it down. His voice is poignant and unforgettable, and I silently cheered every achievement and mourned every setback as if they were my own as he struggles to escape addiction and the life he was born into.
While his story is the focal point of the novel, I learned much along the way about Appalachia, a neglected region of the country, and the depths of the opioid crisis which hits poor and underserved communities the hardest. This book is the perfect example of why I love to read, why it’s easy to fall in love.
Demon's story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking 'like a little blue prizefighter.' For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise.
In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty isn't an idea, it's as natural as the grass grows. For a generation growing up in this world, at the heart of the modern opioid crisis, addiction isn't an abstraction, it's neighbours, parents, and friends. 'Family' could mean love, or reluctant foster…
With a killer of a first sentence, this novel clenched me by the throat and wouldn’t let go.
The main character, Inti, a biologist with a rare neurological understanding of touch, sets out with three colleagues to rewild northern Scotland by reintroducing fourteen wolves into the environment. Once lush with woodlands providing cover and sustenance for native wildlife, the hills are now bare and tame.
Though a naturalist at heart, I didn’t fully realize the importance of Alpha predators to the environment. As Inti struggles to win over the local sheep farmers while protecting the wolves (and one breeding pair I came to root for), threats to her and the wolves are leveled. I feared for both as she tries to convince the locals that rewilding Scotland can be accomplished to the benefit of all. Then, in contrast to the prevailing animosity, she realizes a surprising, forbidden love.
A wild and gripping novel about one woman's quest to reintroduce wolves to the Scottish Highlands at any cost.
Inti Flynn arrives in the Scottish Highlands with fourteen grey wolves, a traumatised sister and fierce tenacity.
As a biologist, she knows the animals are the best hope for rewilding the ruined landscape and she cares little for local opposition. As a sister, she hopes the remote project will offer her twin, Aggie, a chance to heal after the horrific events that drove them both out of Alaska.
But violence dogs their footsteps and one night Inti stumbles over the body…
Through the lens of Davidson’s writing, I was transported to the California coast under towering redwoods. But midst that transcendent beauty, I was quickly immersed in the chronic environmental issues of timber country.
In her capacity as a midwife, Colleen Gunderson becomes conflicted over her husband’s job as a tree topper when she encounters a growing number of mysterious miscarriages. She suspects a link between the logging company’s lavish spraying to clear the forest floor and the water they drink.
Unbeknownst to Colleen, her husband, Rich, used their savings to buy a stand of redwoods which can sustain them for years. Confronted with having to choose between their livelihood and the health of his family, Rich’s pride in his newly acquired plot of forest is shattered along with Colleen’s ability to carry a baby to term.
*'Probably the best novel I'll read this year. It's about work and love and characters who ring true. By the time I was 50 pages in I couldn't put it down. Can't stop thinking about it' Stephen King*
For generations, Rich Gundersen's family has made a living felling giant redwoods on California's rugged coast. It's treacherous work, and though his son, Chub, wants nothing more than to step into his father's boots, Rich longs for a bigger future for him.
Colleen just wants a brother or sister for Chub, but she's losing hope. There is so much that she and…
After her mother is killed in a rare Michigan tornado, Sadie Wixom is left with only her father and grandfather to guide her through the pitfalls of young adulthood.
Hundreds of miles away in western Saskatchewan, Stefan Montegrand and his Indigenous family are forced off their land by multinational energy companies. They’re taken in by Sadie’s aunt, a human rights activist who heads a cultural exchange program.
Stefan, whose father died in prison while on a hunger strike, runs afoul of local authority, but Sadie, intrigued by him and captivated by his story, grows sympathetic to his cause and complicit in his pushback against prejudiced accusations. Together they combat suspicion and bigotry on both sides of the border and the cultural differences that separate them.
