After Eden by Valerie Miner

After Eden

Valerie Miner

After Eden is a provocative novel that examines the meaning of home and homelessness among people who see such issues as more than abstractions. In a story populated by Pomo Indians, Euro-American ranchers and vintners, and Mexican American migrant laborers, Valerie Miner deftly juxtaposes differing cultural views of wilderness, trespassing, and home. Her dramatic novel is contemporary, while reflecting on two centuries of change in a seemingly Edenic place.

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From Booklist

Miner skillfully presents Chicago urban planner Emily, whose annual return to a Northern California women’s land collective for rest and relaxation in her cabin turns to tragedy when her life partner’s flight goes down in flames. So, too, do her hopes for happiness here despite the kind support of her neighbors and the land’s breathtaking beauty. Michael, her attorney brother, arrives to assist his sister on her slow journey through grief and healing and becomes increasingly attracted to the landscape and one of the women. He finances Emily’s extended leave from work when a neighbor’s accident motivates his sister to stay and help out, but she soon begins to see trouble in paradise. A rash of fires is thought to be arson. Is it the work of migrant farmworkers, or maybe environmentalists? The logging interests who find it cheaper to sell the land to vintners than reforest? Miner weaves a gripping tapestry of conflicting interests in a novel in which nature is a major character. Whitney Scott

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Details

ISBN	806138149
Genre	Fiction
Publication Date	Apr-07
Publisher	University of Oklahoma Press
Format	Hardcover
No. of Pages	248
Language	English
Rating	NotRated
BookID	216