A review by lifelivedbooked
Miracle Country by Kendra Atleework
5.0
Miracle Country by Kendra Atleework is a beautiful reflection by the author of her life living in the Eastern Sierra Nevada desert, in the presence of snow capped mountains and a glaring absence of available water. Atleework brilliantly situates this land of "lack" against her own experience of loss after her mother dies, bringing this idea of something that is missing from the microcosm of family to the larger picture of an entire region.
It is clear that Atleework loves the wild land where she grew up; within her memoir is a wealth of historical information from the nearly complete siphoning of her town's major water source via canal system to Los Angeles, to how this "modernization" in conjunction with white settlement has impacted the indigenous Paiute tribe, to the peculiar weather patterns that arise on the Eastern side of the Sierra and the impact that climate change has had on the area.
Miracle Country is beautifully written and rife with longing for her mother, for the family she had before her mother's death, and for her hometown once she moves away for college. I recommend for anyone that enjoys a stunning memoir that looks outside, as well as in.
It is clear that Atleework loves the wild land where she grew up; within her memoir is a wealth of historical information from the nearly complete siphoning of her town's major water source via canal system to Los Angeles, to how this "modernization" in conjunction with white settlement has impacted the indigenous Paiute tribe, to the peculiar weather patterns that arise on the Eastern side of the Sierra and the impact that climate change has had on the area.
Miracle Country is beautifully written and rife with longing for her mother, for the family she had before her mother's death, and for her hometown once she moves away for college. I recommend for anyone that enjoys a stunning memoir that looks outside, as well as in.