Into the Forest by Jean Hegland

Into the Forest by Jean Hegland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 - This book stood the test of time for me. I first read it probably 20 years ago, and although I am a different person now (older, wiser?) and the world is different, I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time. Eva and Nell are sisters in their mid-teens when the world goes awry. Their mother has died from cancer, and they live with their father in Northern California, about 10 miles from the nearest town, on the edge of a forest. It is never made clear exactly what has happened that precipitated the crisis, but the power is out, food becomes scarce, and society is shutting down. For several months the three of them get by, growing their garden, canning, reading, dancing, until one day the father has an accident while cutting wood and dies. Now Eva and Nell only have themselves to rely on, and here is where being homeschooled serves them well. They are well read and resilient. Nell finds a book on native plant in Northern California, and they learn to live closer to the land. When they are threatened by a man who means them harm, they take to the forest with the new baby Robert. Here the story ends. Will they survive? One can only hope.
Book 99 of 2021

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