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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“It was the thing that had most surprised him about being married: half the time he didn’t know what he thought until he said it out loud to her.”
Logging is in Rich’s blood. Being a fourth-generation logger, those trees are as much a way of life to him as being a husband and a dad. This look into life in a 1970’s logging community is told through the alternating perspectives of Rich and his wife, Colleen. While Rich is focused on hard work and providing for his family, Collen is the nurturer, both to her family and other women in the community. Colleen’s longing for another child is met with bitter disappointment at miscarriage after miscarriage. As the community becomes embroiled in a battle between ecology and economy, Rich and Colleen find themselves with different perspectives on the future.
Davidson paints an adept picture of deep family bonds, hardworking people, everyday struggles, the complexities of communities in flux, and the battle to change long-term patterns of belief. I came away with a strong connection to this way of life and what a family looked like as change upended them.
While the premise of the book drew me in, the execution of the pacing fell short. This is a book that demands patience. 75% of the book is slow and steady, often bogged down in technical logging terminology. But that last 25% is satisfyingly told at a break neck speed, full of action and more acutely focused.
Thank you to Ash Davidson, Scribner, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book.
This book was really good. It was definitely more of a challenging read for me, especially Rich's chapters, but I'm really glad I persevered because the storyline was capturing.
*spoilers*
This book follows the Gunderson family, the father a fourth-generation logger, the wife a local midwife, and the son an adventurer and faithful companion to the family dog. Rich, the father and husband, has been a logger his whole life and it's all he knows from his family. When the chance to purchase a huge portion of land nearby comes up, he takes up the offer, but he levies his family's entire savings behind his wife's back. Meanwhile, his wife continues to grapple with the multiple miscarriages she's experienced. Additionally, other women in their small-town have been experiencing birth defects upon birth. When Collen's past boyfriend returns to town, he begins to uncover the dangers that the logging system's herbicides may be causing upon the town.
-The novel is quite long and explores many different storylines because of that. In the beginning, Rich battles purchasing the land, dealing with keeping it a secret from his fellow loggers and wife, and trying to figure out how he's going to successfully acquire this wood. Colleen struggles with his miscarriages, but also she begins to grow distant from Rich. The couple battles the aftermath and strain that miscarriages often cause. Collen wants to keep trying, but Rich doesn't want to see her experience that pain anymore, so he pulls away. However, she then thinks he isn't attracted to her anymore, so that leads to its own set of problems.
-Anyways, then the conflicts transition. As Colleen cheats on Rich with her old high school boyfriend, who now is the man uncovering the environmental concerns, Rich becomes wrapped up in the politics of this herbicide conflict. The town is fuelled by the money that the logging industry provides, so the prospect of logging being interrupted due to herbicide concerns seems ridiculous to the townspeople, who are just trying to scrape by. However, Colleen begins to understand and believe that these herbicides may have a direct effect on her miscarriages and the recent birth defects in the town. Colleen wants another child more than anything in this world, so she clings to this knowledge and will not back down. Yet, her opposition to the herbicide use is an opposition to her own husband, who is depending on his logging industry connections to allow him to harvest his plot of land, Damnation Grove. Thus ensues the conflict of the town against the Gunderson's. Even Colleen's sister, Enid, and brother in law, Eugune, oppose and become violent against Colleen.
-I loved Colleen and Rich's love story throughout the book. Colleen even cheats on Rich, which is obviously horrible, but Rich's compassion and patience with her, even after he finds this out, was really admirable. I loved that we were able to see their love, especially Rich's, shown through their actions. Rich showed Colleen his regret and love through little, subtle actions, like finally attaching a water filter to the spigot after watching her struggle to do it herself all morning. Sure, they were fiercely angry at each other throughout the book, but they always made up eventually and Rich's enduring love for Colleen was just really sweet.
*big spoiler ahead*
-The fact that Rich dies in the end was SO SAD. I didn't expect him to die at all, like not one ounce of me saw that coming until that chapter, so I was very surprised and sad. Once he started barreling to the pet store for a fish and the jewelry store for Colleen, I was like oh no things aren't looking good for Rich, he's too happy. But, I do wonder how necessary his death was in the story. It was dramatic for an ending, but I'm not sure how vital it is to the overall theme/messages of the story.
-The book overall, like I tried to say above, went through so many different storylines. Colleen cheating, the conflicts of the town against other people going against the herbicide use, then the town turning against the Gundersons, Scout's death, Merle/Eugune almost killing the one family, Chub going missing when he fell while with Wyatt, finding out Lark paid off Rich's land debt only for Rich to die. Oh, and the inclusions of Colleen taking Enid and Enid's daughter, Marla (I was definitely confused in the book because there's a Marsha and a Marla) to the clinic for abortions. The book was really interesting and I overall enjoyed, but there was definitely a lot going on. Perhaps there could've been more focus on one thing, but I did enjoy meeting the prominent figures in the town because of all these stories. Rich also has to battle that someone is stealing wood from his proporerty (or perhaps it was still technically company property, but regardless you find out it was Euguene and partly Merle).
-Since the novel's so long, it felt like a very immersive book. The nature descriptions and jargon with logging confused me many times throughout the book, but I imagine people who understand these things would really appreciate and adore these aspects of the novel.
-I also loved Chub. He seemed like such a sweet boy! I loved the constant "Where'd you get you ____" and he would respond "I got them from the ___store". It was such a cute relationship between Chub and his parents. They really loved him and it was evident.
-The concept of herbicide danger on water supply and livelihoods was a really interesting concept. Obviously, it's a sad reality that some people faced, but it's interesting to see how our environmental knowledge has grown and to see how our understanding of human's interactions with the environment has changed.
-The book really emphasizes the power of family overall. Even when Euguene is a complete and utter jerk to the Gunderson's, they're ultimately still all family. I don't really think what Euguene did was ever really okay, but the message was nice anyways. Colleen was always there for Enid, which was admirable.
*spoilers*
This book follows the Gunderson family, the father a fourth-generation logger, the wife a local midwife, and the son an adventurer and faithful companion to the family dog. Rich, the father and husband, has been a logger his whole life and it's all he knows from his family. When the chance to purchase a huge portion of land nearby comes up, he takes up the offer, but he levies his family's entire savings behind his wife's back. Meanwhile, his wife continues to grapple with the multiple miscarriages she's experienced. Additionally, other women in their small-town have been experiencing birth defects upon birth. When Collen's past boyfriend returns to town, he begins to uncover the dangers that the logging system's herbicides may be causing upon the town.
-The novel is quite long and explores many different storylines because of that. In the beginning, Rich battles purchasing the land, dealing with keeping it a secret from his fellow loggers and wife, and trying to figure out how he's going to successfully acquire this wood. Colleen struggles with his miscarriages, but also she begins to grow distant from Rich. The couple battles the aftermath and strain that miscarriages often cause. Collen wants to keep trying, but Rich doesn't want to see her experience that pain anymore, so he pulls away. However, she then thinks he isn't attracted to her anymore, so that leads to its own set of problems.
-Anyways, then the conflicts transition. As Colleen cheats on Rich with her old high school boyfriend, who now is the man uncovering the environmental concerns, Rich becomes wrapped up in the politics of this herbicide conflict. The town is fuelled by the money that the logging industry provides, so the prospect of logging being interrupted due to herbicide concerns seems ridiculous to the townspeople, who are just trying to scrape by. However, Colleen begins to understand and believe that these herbicides may have a direct effect on her miscarriages and the recent birth defects in the town. Colleen wants another child more than anything in this world, so she clings to this knowledge and will not back down. Yet, her opposition to the herbicide use is an opposition to her own husband, who is depending on his logging industry connections to allow him to harvest his plot of land, Damnation Grove. Thus ensues the conflict of the town against the Gunderson's. Even Colleen's sister, Enid, and brother in law, Eugune, oppose and become violent against Colleen.
-I loved Colleen and Rich's love story throughout the book. Colleen even cheats on Rich, which is obviously horrible, but Rich's compassion and patience with her, even after he finds this out, was really admirable. I loved that we were able to see their love, especially Rich's, shown through their actions. Rich showed Colleen his regret and love through little, subtle actions, like finally attaching a water filter to the spigot after watching her struggle to do it herself all morning. Sure, they were fiercely angry at each other throughout the book, but they always made up eventually and Rich's enduring love for Colleen was just really sweet.
*big spoiler ahead*
-The fact that Rich dies in the end was SO SAD. I didn't expect him to die at all, like not one ounce of me saw that coming until that chapter, so I was very surprised and sad. Once he started barreling to the pet store for a fish and the jewelry store for Colleen, I was like oh no things aren't looking good for Rich, he's too happy. But, I do wonder how necessary his death was in the story. It was dramatic for an ending, but I'm not sure how vital it is to the overall theme/messages of the story.
-The book overall, like I tried to say above, went through so many different storylines. Colleen cheating, the conflicts of the town against other people going against the herbicide use, then the town turning against the Gundersons, Scout's death, Merle/Eugune almost killing the one family, Chub going missing when he fell while with Wyatt, finding out Lark paid off Rich's land debt only for Rich to die. Oh, and the inclusions of Colleen taking Enid and Enid's daughter, Marla (I was definitely confused in the book because there's a Marsha and a Marla) to the clinic for abortions. The book was really interesting and I overall enjoyed, but there was definitely a lot going on. Perhaps there could've been more focus on one thing, but I did enjoy meeting the prominent figures in the town because of all these stories. Rich also has to battle that someone is stealing wood from his proporerty (or perhaps it was still technically company property, but regardless you find out it was Euguene and partly Merle).
-Since the novel's so long, it felt like a very immersive book. The nature descriptions and jargon with logging confused me many times throughout the book, but I imagine people who understand these things would really appreciate and adore these aspects of the novel.
-I also loved Chub. He seemed like such a sweet boy! I loved the constant "Where'd you get you ____" and he would respond "I got them from the ___store". It was such a cute relationship between Chub and his parents. They really loved him and it was evident.
-The concept of herbicide danger on water supply and livelihoods was a really interesting concept. Obviously, it's a sad reality that some people faced, but it's interesting to see how our environmental knowledge has grown and to see how our understanding of human's interactions with the environment has changed.
-The book really emphasizes the power of family overall. Even when Euguene is a complete and utter jerk to the Gunderson's, they're ultimately still all family. I don't really think what Euguene did was ever really okay, but the message was nice anyways. Colleen was always there for Enid, which was admirable.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"We had a baby in November . Eamon Paul. I was in labor eleven hours with him and when he came out, the top of his skull was missing. All these people here, they know. They came to see, like he was a circus animal. He came too.” She pointed to Mr. Sanderson in his bright yellow shirt. “He brought us this.” She held up an envelope. “He sat at our kitchen table and said he was sorry for our loss. Sorry. We can all see there’s hardly any fish left in our river. Maybe that’s the dams, I don’t know. Maybe it’s logging, or ocean fishing. Or maybe the sprays are killing the fish. Are they making us sick too? Are they giving people cancer? Are they eating the brains out of our babies’ heads? You’re all thinking it, but no one has the guts to ask.”
This book is a gritty, sometimes dark, and very realistic look at rural life in California. We mostly follow a small family consisting of Colleen, her husband Rich, and their son Chub. Colleen is a midwife who has been forced to watch woman after woman deliver babies born with horrible defects. She herself has had 8 miscarriages. She and the other townspeople are told that their water is being poisoned, that is what is killing the babies. But they are in a town built on logging. Her husband works for the logging company, climbing trees. Many of the people who depend on Sanderson, the logging company, want to ignore the potential risks and continue on. Their reluctance is understandable, because they will not be able to make a living without the company, no matter the harm they are causing.
As many other reviewers have noted already, there is too much focus on logging and other side stories that are not particularly interesting. The heart of the story is Colleen and her pain, and yet the story diverts from that so many times.
Thank you netgalley and Scribner for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book is a gritty, sometimes dark, and very realistic look at rural life in California. We mostly follow a small family consisting of Colleen, her husband Rich, and their son Chub. Colleen is a midwife who has been forced to watch woman after woman deliver babies born with horrible defects. She herself has had 8 miscarriages. She and the other townspeople are told that their water is being poisoned, that is what is killing the babies. But they are in a town built on logging. Her husband works for the logging company, climbing trees. Many of the people who depend on Sanderson, the logging company, want to ignore the potential risks and continue on. Their reluctance is understandable, because they will not be able to make a living without the company, no matter the harm they are causing.
As many other reviewers have noted already, there is too much focus on logging and other side stories that are not particularly interesting. The heart of the story is Colleen and her pain, and yet the story diverts from that so many times.
Thank you netgalley and Scribner for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Abortion
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Pregnancy
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Violence
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes