Into the Forest
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4.1 • 90 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • Set in the near-future, Into the Forest is a powerfully imagined novel that focuses on the relationship between two teenage sisters living alone in their Northern California forest home.
Over 30 miles from the nearest town, and several miles away from their nearest neighbor, Nell and Eva struggle to survive as society begins to decay and collapse around them. No single event precedes society's fall. There is talk of a war overseas and upheaval in Congress, but it still comes as a shock when the electricity runs out and gas is nowhere to be found. The sisters consume the resources left in the house, waiting for the power to return. Their arrival into adulthood, however, forces them to reexamine their place in the world and their relationship to the land and each other.
Reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale, Into the Forest is a mesmerizing and thought-provoking novel of hope and despair set in a frighteningly plausible near-future America.
Praise for Into the Forest
“[A] beautifully written and often profoundly moving novel.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“A work of extraordinary power, insight and lyricism, Into the Forest is both an urgent warning and a passionate celebration of life and love.”—Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade
“From the first page, the sense of crisis and the lucid, honest voice of the . . . narrator pull the reader in. . . . A truly admirable addition to a genre defined by the very high standards of George Orwell's 1984.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Beautifully written.”—Kirkus Reviews
“This beautifully written story captures the essential nature of the sister bond: the fierce struggle to be true to one’s own self, only to learn that true strength comes from what they are able to share together.”—Carol Saline, co-author of Sisters
“Jean Hegland’s sense of character is firm, warm, and wise. . . . [A] fine first novel.”—John Keeble, author of Yellowfish
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hegland's powerfully imagined first novel will make readers thankful for telephones and CD players while it underscores the vulnerability of lives dependent on technology. The tale is set in the near future: electricity has failed, mail delivery has stopped and looting and violence have destroyed civil order. In Northern California, 32 miles from the closest town, two orphaned teenage sisters ration a dwindling supply of tea bags and infested cornmeal. They remember their mother's warnings about the nearby forest, but as the crisis deepens, bears and wild pigs start to seem less dangerous than humans. From the first page, the sense of crisis and the lucid, honest voice of the 17-year-old narrator pull the reader in, and the fight for survival adds an urgent edge to her coming-of-age story. Flashbacks smartly create a portrait of the lost family: an iconoclastic father, artistic mother and two independent daughters. The plot draws readers along at the same time that the details and vivid writing encourage rereading. Eating a hot dog starts with "the pillowy give of the bun," and the winter rains are "great silver needles stitching the dull sky to the sodden earth." If sometimes the lyricism goes a little too far, this is still a truly admirable addition to a genre defined by the very high standards of George Orwell's 1984 and Russell Hoban's Ridley Walker.
Customer Reviews
A good read overall
Few moments are a little far fetched while most others are agreeable. This book has some great quotes and lessons about understanding death.
Poetry in story form
I only heard about this book when I saw it as a movie on Netflix. I read the IMDb page and saw it was a book and immediately ditched the movie for the book and I’m glad I did. I get the idea that this story could never be told in 90 minutes on a screen. So many little nuances that shape Nell and Eva. We walk with these two girls as they learn and enter adulthood with the bits of memories their parents left behind. But they find their own way. They are their own person.
Into The Forest
Just finished a few minutes ago. Excellent book. I like the post apocalyptic genre anyway and this belongs alongside "The Road", Marlen Haushofer's "The Wall", Ansel Adam's "The Pretty Pox", and the novel, "The Bird Box". I can think of a couple of others. It is excellent. A criticism had been made that some of the language was a bit too lyrical. I disagree. It flowed for me without interruption or difficulty.
I think it is an optimistic book. It describes a future I have dreams about. People say that we cannot go back to those days, that life, and for most people that will be true. But not for everyone. This is a kind story with an essential and unsentimental sweetness running through it. I loved it. Thanks.