Jean Hegland's 1996 novel takes place in an unnamed time, so it could be now or the future. Nell and Eva are two sisters who live 32 miles from the closest town, in a Northern California forest, when life as they know it changes. Over the course of a few months, gas and food supplies dwindle, people die from new strains of the flu, and power eventually completely goes out. Nell, the 17-year old protagonist, chronicles the events of her life in her journal: the death of her mother from cancer before the world collapses around them, Eva's attempts to cling to her past life by dancing without music for hours on end, her father's traumatic death in the fall after everything changes. After the sisters are left on their own, they have to figure out a way to live in the forest, a place their mother warned them about as children. Despite the bitter winter, dwindling food supplies, and the darkest of humanity, the two girls succeed in drawing out what the forest has to offer in terms of food, and solace. The worst of what they endure is simply being secluded, and having to lean on each other for everything.
This book came very highly recommended, and I'm so very glad I finally picked it up and read it. The story is not only beautifully told, but entirely believable. Nell and Eva are definitely sisters who fight and make up, love each other fiercely, and try to eke out their own individual lives, even when their needs are so intertwined. The story of how these girls come to make the forest their home, and the trials they face in simply surviving, make for a wonderfully engaging novel.
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