Heart Spring Mountain

DEBUT First novelist MacArthur (Half Wild) spins a tale of family and history in this multigenerational novel set in rural Vermont. During the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, Bonnie, a drug addict, decides to view the scene from a bridge over the raging river. Her daughter Vale lives in New Orleans, tending bar and stripping for a living, but drops everything to return home when she hears her mother is missing. As Vale reconnects with her family and digs into the past, the story line presents several points of view: of her great-aunt Hazel, still living on the mountain; her aunt Deb, who once was part of a commune; and her eccentric maternal grandmother Lena, who inhabited a cabin with a one-eyed owl. Through Vale's search and the group's memories, the tangled story of the past, both hidden and known, comes into focus.