First published 2019
The Koski siblings arrive in America carrying little more than determination. Ilmari and Matti face the towering old-growth trees of southern Washington, climbing heights that would terrify most men. Their sister Aino throws herself into the dangerous work of organizing unions among the Finnish logging community near the Columbia River. The brothers risk their lives daily, scaling and felling trees one hundred meters tall in the wilderness frontier. Aino battles industry bosses who exploit immigrant workers. Each sibling fights to build something lasting in this new country while Russia's imperial rule makes returning to Finland impossible. The ancient forests fall rapidly as development transforms the landscape, leaving behind fields of stumps where giants once stood. The Koskis struggle to preserve their Finnish traditions even as America demands they remake themselves. Their individual battles merge into a larger question of what it means to belong in a nation still defining itself through the labor and sacrifice of immigrants.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, labor, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-saga, fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: America, Columbia River, Finland, Russia, Washington
Period: 19th-century, 20th-century
736 pages · Hardcover · Atlantic Books