- School & Library Binding
- Publisher: San Val (April 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0613557808
- ISBN-13: 978-0613557801
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13.3 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 463 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
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.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
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
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
David Sowd, formerly with Stark Cty. District Lib., Canton, Ohio
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence
Some people say that my wife's sister is a witch. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Some people say that my wife's sister is a witch. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully written - a REAL story!!!,
By ebabler "dustyfish" (Ridgefield, CT USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Water Witches (Paperback)
I found this book much more "realistic" than "Midwives" I could relate to it! In fact, I was caught between reality and the book while I was reading it on a recent June visit to my daughter's in VT!! I actually kept forgetting that VT was NOT experiencing a drought while I was visiting!! Caught myself turning off the water while brushing my teeth, looking at the Winooski River for low levels, and observing the countryside in general for signs of "drought"!!Chris Bohjalian is a master story teller in a "kinder and gentler" way!! His beautiful descriptions of the VT countryside, the numerous SMALL towns, and the life these people lead are exactly what I have encountered on my numerous visits to the state! But the really compelling story he tells is of the encroachment of business, homes, development on our beatiful and old New England towns. I live in one of these in CT. We have no beautiful catamounts as in Bohjalian's story, but the deer and bear in our area are being squeezed out by development! This is the case in a lot of New England. I could certainly relate to this story, but even people in inner-cities would certainly hate to see what little is left of our beautiful "country" destroyed! Where would they go on weekends to get OUT of the city? Bravo, Chris, for a beautiful story!!!!
5.0 out of 5 stars
A special summer treat,
By Romantic Anna (Bronx, NY United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Water Witches (Paperback)
What a find! This is gorgeously written and heartfelt. The characters all are vividly painted and compelling. I loved the plot, the setting, and especially the voice of the narrator. I can't imagine NOT loving this story. Reading it in summer was blissful.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unique!,
By Theresa W (mi, usa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Water Witches (Paperback)
I love reading Chris Bohjalian. It is so much fun! And I seem to learn things in the process as well. A bonus. Every one of his books is about something so different & unique! This book has a little bit of everything, human struggle, morals, faith, love, hope, tragedy, confusion....I don't think this book, or any of Bohjalian's will let you down!
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