First published 2019
Louisa convinces four friends to join her experiment in off-grid living on her family's abandoned property in upstate New York. The land once hosted a socialist commune at the turn of the century, and now Louisa wants to create the Homestead, a self-sustaining compound where they can escape what they see as society's coming economic and environmental collapse. Beau brings charisma and mystery, disappearing at night and juggling multiple relationships. Chloe, a musician, draws everyone to her but creates friction in the process. Jack contributes the only real farming knowledge among them. Mack arrives last, determined to document their story, though her perspective proves unreliable. The group throws themselves into restoration work, gardening, and fermentation projects. But romantic entanglements, jealousies, and mounting suspicions fracture their unity. As winter closes in, their isolation becomes dangerous rather than liberating. Their utopian dream transforms into something far more precarious, testing whether their bonds can survive the pressures of living entirely dependent on each other.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: New York, Upstate New York
Period: 21st Century
353 pages · Hardcover · Random House