A review by abookolive
Miracle Country: A Memoir by Kendra Atleework
3.0
Though this is one of those nonfiction books that I'd classify as subgenre-bending (is that a thing? I'm making it a thing), I can tell you that is a book that is deeply of a specific place.
That place is the Owens Valley, located to the east of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range, to the north of the Mojave desert, and in the backyard of Los Angeles, as the author Kenda Atleework says. She should know. She grew up on this arid land and her history with the region as well as the region itself is what she focuses on throughout this memoir/history/nature writing chimera.
The author interweaves her story and her family's story with the history of the region. How this land was taken from native populations, how the city of Los Angeles came to suck water out of it like an overenthusiastic kid with a straw, and how climate change is liable to change it going forward.
There are many touching moments, including the memories the author shares of her mother, who died when she was only sixteen and her two siblings even younger still. And the way the author describes nature and the emotional connection she feels to this land is remarkable. Yet the whole way through the book, I felt like I was wandering without a guide; though the book is beautiful, it lacks a central story or purpose that keeps the reader focused and the narrative from meandering too far off.
I've read a number of novels in my life that were clearly drawn so heavily from the author's life that I find myself wondering, "why didn't you just write a memoir?" This is the very first memoir I've read that I think would have actually made a better novel. A story set in the Owens Valley using all this historical information and nature writing? Would have been sublime. As nonfiction, it's a 3.5 star book.
Click here to hear more of my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!
That place is the Owens Valley, located to the east of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range, to the north of the Mojave desert, and in the backyard of Los Angeles, as the author Kenda Atleework says. She should know. She grew up on this arid land and her history with the region as well as the region itself is what she focuses on throughout this memoir/history/nature writing chimera.
The author interweaves her story and her family's story with the history of the region. How this land was taken from native populations, how the city of Los Angeles came to suck water out of it like an overenthusiastic kid with a straw, and how climate change is liable to change it going forward.
There are many touching moments, including the memories the author shares of her mother, who died when she was only sixteen and her two siblings even younger still. And the way the author describes nature and the emotional connection she feels to this land is remarkable. Yet the whole way through the book, I felt like I was wandering without a guide; though the book is beautiful, it lacks a central story or purpose that keeps the reader focused and the narrative from meandering too far off.
I've read a number of novels in my life that were clearly drawn so heavily from the author's life that I find myself wondering, "why didn't you just write a memoir?" This is the very first memoir I've read that I think would have actually made a better novel. A story set in the Owens Valley using all this historical information and nature writing? Would have been sublime. As nonfiction, it's a 3.5 star book.
Click here to hear more of my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!