Where setting is everything
Setting: The Appalachian Trail in Maine The Book: Heartwood, by Amity Gaige
The author says that her story is patterned after a real person who went missing on the trail in the summer of 2013. Our fictional character is Valerie, a nurse who sets out to unwind from months of caring for patients with Covid. Her disappearance is the main feature of the book, but the characters who are looking for her are the main characters. Notably, 86 year old Lena, bored in her care home environment but unable to tend to herself, begins to follow the missing hiker along with her on-line friend TerribleSilence. Another main character is Lieutenant Beverly Miller, the game warden who stakes her reputation on finding Valerie. The book becomes a true mystery and has a ‘twisty’ ending.
Setting: Shearwater, a tiny island near Antarctica The Book: Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Keeping up with the largest seed bank in the world is the job of Dominic Salt and his three children. Rising sea levels are threatening the tiny island that is their home so they will need to pack up the seeds and leave. Before they do, however, a violent storm washes a strange woman up on the island bank. As the Salts nurse her back to health, they become attached to her and welcome her into their family. But, is she as she seems to be, or should they be wary? Are the Salts hiding secrets about themselves that could change the group dynamics? This book is a mystery for sure and one that you will want to read to find the answer.
*The book is very timely. What does one do when climate change and political upheaval invade your otherwise comfortable life ? Leah Rachel Von Essen, reviewing the book for the Chicago Review of Books, writes, “Wild Dark Shore is an exceptional book that hands readers a bittersweet helping of sorrow and joy, sounding a clarifying call towards a symbiotic survival that prioritizes our need to do more than simply subsist: to put turst in each other and in the nature that surrounds us.”
Setting: Dorset, England The Book: Broken Country by Claire Leslie Hall
I was surprised to find out that Broken Country is set in Dorset, England, a small town in Dorchester County. I was just there several weeks ago! The countryside is lovely–green everywhere with gently rolling hills and lots of sheep!! The author lives in Dorset. Fair warning that most reviewers classify this book as “chic lit,” which isn’t bad, really. You just might want to know this. It’s about first loves, regrets, smothered passions, and so on. BUT, the book is also a mystery. There’s a trial in London, even. If you like this kind of book and need a good cry, you should read it right away. Many readers have written that it’s the best book they have ever read. If you read it, please let me know what you think.