A review by nordstina
Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Damnation Spring highlights a close knit logging community in California who have to come to terms with both the increasing regulations around the industry and the environmental consequences of it. Colleen, a makeshift midwife and her husband Rick, a career logger live with their son Chub. Colleen has experience several miscarriages and has been at the births of multiple children with severe birth defects. Some important events propel the narrative forward. Rick purchases a plot of land where he could potentially make a windfall set up his family financially without telling Colleen. A man from Colleen's past returns to the town in order to research the fishing and water in the area, measuring the deleterious effects of the constant spraying. Davidson is able to color in a community and lifestyle for the reader, and provided context for different characters' motivations. There were a couple of characters who were sort of comically evil, but overall I enjoyed this one. It provided a nice balance of the effects of destruction of the environment while also highlighting the consequences for a community built on a single industry.
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