Conservancy Book Review Seven
Weather by Jenny Offill
“Voted, that the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof;
voted,
that the earth is given to the Saints;
voted that we are the Saints.”
Weather, a novel by Jenny Offill, opens with the above quotation from a 1640 Connecticut town meeting. If indeed Earth “belongs” to us, are we compelled to protect (or salvage) our planet? This novel answers with a resounding yes! Weather’s protagonist mulls over this existential question while searching for a safe place to hide her family from worsening environmental destruction.
Offill’s humorous yet tragic story, juxtaposes our environmental crisis with the mendacity of daily life. Lizzie, the narrator, is a compassionate but “feral” librarian (a librarian without a formal degree) and sees life through the lens of a university help desk. Her world includes a “doomed” adjunct professor who can’t get tenure and feels he is a failure, patrons slipping out with purses full of toilet paper and a patron who is irate because Lizzie can’t provide the password to his email. Her joyful insights share the hilarity and tragedy of daily life. However, throughout Weather, the prospect of environmental annihilation lurks.
While we do meet Lizzie’s drug addicted brother and witness her absolute devotion to him, as well as her young son and husband, they are peripheral to the story. Readers see our Lizzie through rushed drop-offs at school, all the while pondering the fate of our planet. A former mentor and environmental podcaster hires Lizzie to handle correspondence and this experience drags her further into the abyss of Earth’s decline. Some writers worry about climate change while others fear the decline of Western civilization.
The election of a new U.S. administration accelerates Lizzie’s fears for the planet and safety for her family. While helping her son with homework she tries to complete her doomstead preparation. She wonders if mountaintops are safe because they are hard to reach and will keep hungry marauders out, or if they are too isolated from food sources.
Weather’s story line is not linear. Offill’s sparse paragraphs leave readers to decipher her message, to look around the corners of her prose to find meaning and answers. Readers will appreciate the wit and humor of Offill’s writing as she compels us to confront climate change. However, her message is crystal clear; we need to act today to protect our world.
All of us who love Kiawah’s awe-inspiring beauty — the beaches, marshes and abundant wildlife — understand and accept our commensurate responsibility to care for our beautiful island. Weather compels us to ask what more we can do today to protect our glorious beach from sea level rise and bobcats from rodent poisons, to ensure returning sea turtles a safe nesting site, and to maintain an environment welcoming to Kiawah’s abundant bird life. As a result ofresearching this book, Offill has become an environmental activist and, after reading Weather, I expect readers will also recognize the urgency and be motivated to do more.