Thanks to Netgalley and Scribner for sharing the ARC of this debut novel. I give all the stars to this one. The author has created a tremendous sense of place and a wealth of credible sympathetic characters. I was engrossed in the plot and deeply moved by the events. Books don’t often bring me to tears, but this one did, although it ends on a hopeful note. Highly recommend this to all.

Set in the late 1970's in the logging territory of northern California, "Damnation Spring" tells the story of logging families who depend on their seasonal work to support their families, and have little use for the "hippies" (aka ecologists) who are fighting against the destructive clear-cutting policies of the logging companies. The Gundersen family have been loggers for generations; Rich, Colleen and their young son Chub are close and loving towards each other, but Colleen has had 8 miscarriages, the most recent one when the baby girl was at 5 months gestation. Rich doesn't want to keep trying to have another baby because he sees the torment that it has caused Colleen. Colleen is an unofficial midwife in the area and has seen too many malformed and abnormal babies born. When an old boyfriend of hers, now a research scientist, comes back to the area to do some research on the waters in the creeks that feed the loggers' homes, she finds herself in a complicated situation. The scientist believes that the herbicides sprayed to reduce brush along the logging roads has entered the water system and is causing many health problems in the community. Of course, no one wants to believe him because it would alter their way of living and ability to make a living.

In beautiful, concise prose, the author portrays the relationships and challenges among the logging companies, their illnesses and injuries, and their sometimes prickly links with the logging companies. Alcohol, infidelity, and a deep mistrust of anyone that threatens their way of life are pervasive. There is a lot of frustration and sadness in this novel, but also a lot of love and even some redemption. A first class effort for a debut from an author who grew up in the area she writes about.

The 1970s brought a lot of changes to the US, and the Pacific Northwest was not excluded. The formation of new national parks and the rise of protests for environmental concerns caused a shift in the lumberjack communities. Damnation Spring is a story about a small family in a community affected by this shifting landscape.

There were a lot of positive qualities about this story. Number one, the sends of place is phenomenal. While reading this book, I was living in the Pacific Northwest, amongst the redwoods and the small town folk with down-to-earth lives. Along with that, the characters are richly developed and the story is interesting, empathetic, and thought provoking. It is beautifully written, the prose is thorough and elegant. I think this could make a fantastic mini-series or movie, with the right cast and director, a la Dances with Wolves, Legends of the Fall, or A River Runs Through It.

All this considered, for me, the pace was just too slow. I found myself rushing toward the action too many times because I was bored with the repetitive descriptions of their everyday lifestyle. I would get confused with the syntax and have to reread, which was frustrating. I could not find that steady flow. This was a big negative for me and that alone brought my rating down to three-stars, I’ll round up to 4 when needed.

I recommend this book for those who love a well-written story about the struggles and pain of common people. You will get to know the characters, hope with them, and sadly, grieve with them. I was definitely attached to these characters. I wanted to know how everything was going to play out so I stuck with it, but it was a struggle. Patience will be required and rewarded.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me an advanced copy of this book. I was transported into a Pacific Northwest logging community and completely enthralled with Rich, his wife Colleen, and their young son Chub and all of their ups and downs. An amazing novel about family, community, and doing what’s right even when it’s not popular. This is a book I will be thinking about for a long time.

Edit: I had to come back after finishing this book to say "wow, very powerful story!"

Not what I expected but I gave reading it a solid try, putting it down and trying again several times before I could keep going -- it was a bit difficult figuring out what the plot was but eventually, around 30% it came together. Well written (heads up: a good bit of crude language in places), the characters were were well formed, and environmental and social issues were well woven into the story. This could be a book to either sway opinion on the harm of herbicides or teach you to empathize with a segment of proud but working poor skilled labor, or both. It was easy to understand how these small west coast communities were desperately trying to hold onto a way of life while fighting off the knowledge they were about to be crushed under unstoppable change (environmentalists and scientists and government regulations vs whole communities bound together by local economies tied to logging redwood forests). These scenarios and families seemed very real and reminded me of great writing about southern Appalachian life, what it takes to survive a hard scrabble life. While I liked or empathize with a number of the characters, I found the book a bit depressing and a bit of a slog to keep reading at points. I'm not sure how it will end but I can say that the author is skilled in accurately making the environment itself a primary character in this novel.

I felt every moment of this book - the pull between wanting justice for the toxic chemicals runoff but also the fight for the loggers to keep their jobs and livelihoods. In fact, I'd imagine this is a pretty accurate portrayal of the struggle in this region in the 70s and 80s. I also felt the heartache, the ups and downs of marriage, the difficulties of motherhood and making choices for families, the struggles of a community.
The writing was well done and constantly engaging. This book will sell well to a wide range of audiences!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I did not enjoy this book as much as other reviewers seemed to enjoy it. I love that area and have been there within the past 6 months. It is a poor area, but just beautiful. I think the book reinforced the poverty and the hard life of the region and made it a sad book for me. It was informative and a good story but not a light read. I gave it 3 stars, not because of the writing, but because it was not uplifting for me.

I received a free ARC ebook of Damnation Spring from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Generations of hard work have left Rich Gunderson and his family still on the precipice of economic disaster. For them and their community, logging the big trees was all they knew. They were proud of their work, proud of their strength, and proud of their resilience. They recognized the danger of their work and memorialized those who had died felling the ancient forests. Now, in the late 1970s, everything is changing. The environmental movement has gained political and popular strength and Rich and his contemporaries can see their lives just slipping away.

For the first third of this book, it is too easy to think that they should just recognize the changes coming and move on. (A contemporary example would be the coal mining industry that is in serious and inevitable decline but still is the lifeblood of whole communities.) But how do you just abandon your history, your home, your life when the future is so uncertain and you don't have the skills or the cash to jump into a new life? And can the methods of clear cut logging and spraying herbicides be really bad when they have been used for years and accomplish the tasks required? Herbicide use is casually pervasive with no precautions taken.

Colleen, Rich's younger wife, assists at births when women don't have the resources for traditional medical care. She has had several miscarriages and there is a disturbing trend of horrific birth defects that are kept private. It takes an outsider, Daniel - Colleen's former boyfriend and a former local boy - to bring questions out in the open. He and his interfering ways are met with hostility and outright violence.

Rich just wants to provide for his family the only way he knows how. An almost mystical stand of tall trees, inaccessible by the current roads, comes up for sale so Rich buys it without telling his wife. He has mortgaged their future in the hope that the acreage will be logged for a real profit. Land ownership, however, comes with a hefty price. The relationship between Rich and Colleen is a lovely one that might be fractured by their differing views.

Davidson clearly has affection and respect for the people who long to hold onto the past so they can have a present; he does not, however, shy away from the environmental cost of their actions. Rich and his coworkers frequently look back to a time when the salmon were more plentiful and the air was cleaner but the need for a steady paycheck outweighs their nostalgia.

Damnation Spring is, at times, an uncomfortable book to read. Readers will wonder at the resilience of the people amidst the ache of their backs. There is much to learn here about the hard work of moving forward as individuals, as families, and as communities.

Ash Davidson’s impressive debut novel takes place in Humboldt County California, one of my favorite parts of the world. It is home to the Giant Redwoods and some of the most spectacular shoreline you will ever see. It is also Ground Zero for the never-ending battle between preservationists, environmentalists, and developers.
And that is what forms the heart-wrenching tension at the core of “Damnation Spring”.
Humboldt County is the location of one of the original virgin growth Redwoods, trees that have stood for hundreds, even thousands of years, enduring harsh climate, fires, and human exploitation. They are magnificent and seminal. Being among them reminds us of our place in the eco-system, as only a single species, but the one that can both save or eradicate this special eco-system.

The book is focused around the people who have lived in Humboldt County for generations, including those indigenous families who have lived off this land forever. The land is the source of heritage, pride, and identity. It is also the source of livelihood. Managing that balance is an age-old challenge that has led to generations of triumph for some, struggle for most, tragedy for far too many.

“Damnation Spring” is a lot of book. There are sections throughout that will teach you things that you never knew. There may be moments while reading where you wonder whether this is information that you will ever need to know. But the way that Davidson communicates the knowledge through the thoughts and dialogue of fully fleshed out characters is an art. It is worth every minute and serves as the foundation for the nuanced, compelling, and immensely plausible narrative.

And, it is a story that will break your heart. There are moments of charm, joy, levity, and hope, but they are overshadowed by hardship, violence, and tragedy. You will want to be prepared.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for the dARC.

Damnation Spring
by Ash Davidson
Scribner
General Fiction (Adult)
Pub Date 03 Aug 2021 | Archive Date 03 Aug 2021

Wonderful debut novel! This is one of the best books I've read this year. Great setting and character development. Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the ARC. This book should do very well.


5 star

Damnation Spring is a stunning debut novel and Ash Davidson a master of her craft. Set in 1970's logging country , we are introduced to Rich, Colleen and their son, Chub. You can't help but fall in love with their family unit, to feel like their community is yours and to want nothing but happiness for the lives lived in these pages. I didn't want this book to end and boy, will that ending leave you breathless. I highly recommend this beautiful novel and cannot wait for whatever comes next from this talented author.

Well, this novel wrecked me. I couldn't even tell you why I picked this from the long queue on my kindle. Maybe the title? When I saw how long it was I thought I'd just give it a chapter or two and see. And now only two days later I'm a sniffly mess over the end of it. Colleen and Rich are two of the most heartbreakingly real characters I've read in a long time, and following them through their troubles in the 70s with the logging companies, the preservation "hippies," the hopes and stresses of growing a family...man. This one really hit me. I will say that the logging business and the technicalities of who owns the tress vs who owns the land vs the structure of logging outfits was confusing and over my head. FIVE stars, for sure.

This is what I would call a triumphant debut. I almost feel sorry for Ash Davidson because she has set the bar sky high for herself with this gorgeous, engrossing story of a logging community in the late 1970s. The beginning was a bit difficult to get through, but since my mother had read the book and highly recommended it, I pressed on and was richly rewarded with complex characters, chilling suspense, simmering conflict, and so much more. The details surrounding the logging process and equipment were somewhat lost on me, and yet I still felt as if I could see the woods and feel the immensity of the trees. Even better than the rich setting was the character development and the ways in which Davidson showed the toughness of the community and the challenges of the loggers' lives. In doing so, she made connections between their resilience and the fierce, yet tender love that also existed within them. I felt invested in their lives; as if these were real, living people. This is a book that will have you staying up into the wee hours of the morning, and upon waking after too little sleep, you'll still be thinking about it.

I am a very well-read librarian and I'm going to say that Damnation Spring may be the best book I have ever read. I couldn't put it down and then I had to stop and take a break before I finished it because I did not want it to end. I felt fully immersed in the issues, the characters, the setting, and the descriptions. The writing is beautiful and the story is one that you'll never forget. I loved every character and felt their pain. Kudos to Davidson for a magical, thought-provoking, gripping first novel. Author, where'd you get those sweet writing skills?

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.