Description
In this fantasy series by Owen Richard Kindig, we first meet Jules, tethered to a rock-climbing rope on a cliff just below Owl Ridge—120 stories above Katahdin Falls River in northern Maine. He is an environmental researcher with deep knowledge of many species, who earns his way and makes a difference by helping Washington's environmental law firms do battle against the corporate titans who earn money when they damage the future of life on planet Earth.
Grenleigh arrives that morning, on the same cliff, and interrupts his plans. The athletic Irish redhead knows what she wants, is too kind and curious to leave Jules alone, and too attractive to long avoid. Eventually they discover that his deep-seated, well-thought-out atheism clashes with her spiritual outlook. Is she a Christian? She seems evasive, because of her embarrassment of the impact of Christianity through most of history.
She helps him resolve the burdens of his past. When they compare notes, both have experienced deep traumas ... her in Ireland, him in swamps across the U.S. and the maritimes of New England and eastern Canada. They also share love of the wilderness and are most at home while foraging for the food they need, without leaving a trace.
Grin, as he soon learns to call her, counters his pessimism with a firm belief that we all will profit from our mistakes, and the human race is not a 'lost cause' by any means.
Grin's super-powers include a remarkable knowledge of age-old wisdom that both of them need to face the dangers of the hour: the Pandemic Presidency of Donald Trump, and the efforts of Maine's governor to chase hikers from the Appalachian trail. Even the wilderness provides no escape.
As they cross the 100-Mile Wilderness, and snuggle among the Norway Pines, they console each other's grim memories of the past, and take up housekeeping in a run-down but cozy farmhouse, where arguments about science, history and religion keep them drawing closer and recoiling from each other. These complicated characters unpack their past, and explore the possibility of a "perfect" romance together.
"Grin's Fairy Tales", culled from the wisdom of ages past, become a feature of the book you won't want to miss.
This wide-ranging book of historical fiction and metaphysical exploration is carefully researched and beautifully written, with many a deep thought and poetic phrase. It is also a page-turner with fresh action and obstacles, and vividly-written descriptions of the flora and fauna of the Acadian northeast.
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