by Fiona Mozley
First published 2017
Daniel tells the story of his family's life in a handmade house in Elmet, Yorkshire. He and his sister Cathy grow up free in the woods, learning from a local woman when they need schooling. Their father builds things and hunts, providing for them with his hands. Sometimes he vanishes to do brutal work for money, but he protects his children from that world. The family believes their self-sufficient life will continue forever. Then a landowner appears at their door, claiming rights to their land. Their peaceful existence crumbles. Cathy and their father, both fierce and strong, decide to fight back. They try to protect themselves and their neighbors from this threat. Daniel watches as their resistance sets off a chain of violence that will destroy everything they built together. The story captures a family's struggle to defend their way of life against forces that would tear it apart.
Genres: literary-fiction, family-life, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, resistance
Setting: Elmet, Yorkshire
Period: 21st-century
199 pages · Kindle Edition · Algonquin Books
Content warnings: violence