In a moving, life-affirming novel suffused with ecological wisdom, a Vermont ski resort's plans for expansion collide with environmentalists seeking to preserve a mountainous wildlife habitat and riverine ecosystem. Narrator Scott Winston, a transplanted New York City lawyer who represents the ski resort, switches allegiance after he and his nine-year-old daughter spot three mountain lions in an area targeted for clearing. Complicating matters is the envy that Scott's pragmatic wife, Laura, a native Vermonter, feels toward her famed sister, Patience Avery, a dowser (water witch) who also opposes the ski resort and whose talent for locating underground springs, missing persons or lost objects with a divining rod figures prominently in the novel's denouement. The struggle between the developers and their opponents culminates in an environmental board hearing that has all the dramatic excitement of a courtroom trial. With wit, insight and mordant irony, Bohjalian (Past the Bleachers) charts Scott's metamorphosis from rationalistic materialist and skeptic to one who believes in higher powers and the interconnectedness of all life. In a refreshing twist, instead of offering a bucolic idyll, the author takes us through a Vermont beset by drought, a declining ski industry, unemployment and endangered ecosystems. (Mar.)

Ecologically devastating oil spills, electromagnetic radiation, vegetarian Not Dogs-all the "green" issues of the day are present and accounted for in this topical offering from the author of the much-praised baseball novel Past the Bleachers (LJ 5/1/92), which is set, fittingly, in the Green Mountain country of Vermont. With the cards so stacked against him, it's a measure of Bohjalian's talent that rather than giving us mere personifications of Big Ideas, he's able to create fully realized characters we can care about-like his protagonist, a small-town lawyer who faces a crisis of conscience when he finds himself caught up in the familiar conflict between Jobs (in this case, the ski industry) and The Environment. The extensive dowsing lore that runs through the narrative like an underground stream is a bonus delight. Recommended for public libraries.-David Sowd, formerly with Stark Cty. District Lib., Canton, Ohio

"A bewitching tale from New England by a writer with a generous heart for his subjects, and respect for a landscape he clearly loves. Chris Bohjalian's voice is as steady and sure as Vermont rain."

"Bohjalian's book is as beautifully made as a Windsor chair, as comforting as a long woodpile in October, and as flavorful as a Northern Spy apple."

"As welcome as rain on a parched garden."

"In Chris Bohjalian's wise, splendid book, we hear the echo and avalanche made when centuries collide. One of the most elegantly philosophical, urgent — yet somehow timeless — novels of these perilous times."

"Anyone whose family is divided between conservatives and liberals will squirm with recognition....Anyone who has enjoyed the pretension to being an insider in a capital city — be it Montpelier or Washington — will laugh uncomfortably."

"I was charmed by the mixture of country lore and planning boards, new age witches and old-fashioned family duties....For anyone interested in the way that we live with the land, on the land, today, this novel makes for a thoughtful evening or two of entertaining reading."

Bohjalian is a master of literary suspense.”
—The Washington Post

“Few writers can manipulate a plot with Bohjalian’s grace and power.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“[Bohjalian’s] books are ... filled with artfully drawn characters and great, passionate storytelling.” 
—The Seattle Times

“A writer of unusual heart.”
—The Boston Globe