Why did I love this book?
One of my all-time favorite books, Prodigal Summer is a compelling, gorgeous, and sometimes steamy story as well as a very thoughtful examination of our role as stewards of the land. Deanna Wolfe, a reclusive wildlife biologist, is studying a den of coyotes that have recently migrated into the Appalachian Mountains where she lives in an isolated cabin as a forest ranger. Her solitary life is disrupted by an intriguing and infuriating young hunter who invades her private spaces and her thoughts. I loved this book for the story and the characters. What I learned about coyotes and the importance of predators to the ecosystem, as well as about the American Chestnut, a fascinating tree lost to blight, stays with me and conveys deeper meaning about the natural world.
9 authors picked Prodigal Summer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
It is summer in the Appalachian mountains and love, desire and attraction are in the air. Nature, too, it seems, is not immune. From her outpost in an isolated mountain cabin, Deanna Wolfe, a reclusive wildlife biologist, watches a den of coyotes that have recently migrated into the region. She is caught off guard by a young hunter who invades her most private spaces and interrupts her self-assured, solitary life. On a farm several miles down the mountain, Lusa Maluf Landowski, a bookish city girl turned farmer's wife, finds herself marooned in a strange place where she must declare or…