by T. C. Boyle
First published 2012
Marantha Waters steps onto San Miguel Island on New Year's Day 1888, hoping the harsh Pacific air will heal her failing body. Her husband, a Civil War veteran, takes charge of the island's sheep ranch while Marantha battles the brutal isolation. Their adopted daughter Edith dreams of acting and plots her escape from this windswept prison. The family struggles against the elements and each other until the ranch sits empty. Forty years later, Elise Lester arrives from New York City with her husband Herbie, a restless World War I veteran. They build a new life on the same unforgiving ground, raising two daughters and finding unexpected peace. But as another war approaches, the island that sheltered them through the Depression may not shield them from what comes next. Both families discover that the promise of self-reliance carries a price measured in sacrifice and solitude.
Genres: family, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: New York City, San Miguel Island
Period: 1888, 1920s
367 pages · Hardcover · Viking