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Hegland's
mesmerizing first novel is set in the near-future, when a
distant war has brought about the collapse of industrialized
America and, in particular, left two teen sisters secluded
in the Northern California forest and facing the challenges
of survival with diminishing supplies, growing fear of predatory
outsiders, no electricity, and no telephone.
Older
sister Eva yearns for a ballet career and dances the daylight
away to the tick of a hand-wound metronome, while 17-year-old
Nell, the narrator, concentrates on reading through the Encyclopedia
Britannica so she can realize her dream of going to Harvard.
They slowly realize that rescue is not forthcoming and learn
to survive by foraging for berries and nuts, brewing medicinal
teas in Native American fashion, and gardening. Nell even
manages to shoot a wild boar so that Eva, anemic during a
pregnancy resulting from rape by an interloper, may be nourished.
Hegland's sweet and sadly elegiac tale is an engrossing coming-of-age
adventure.
Whitney
Scott
From Booklist
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