COMING FULL CIRCLE

An eco-novel focuses on the members of a multigenerational family and the Native Americans they work with to survive.

Environmental champions Titlow and Tinger channel their fierce allegiance to the ecological preservation movement into a book chronicling the lives of two emerging groups. In 1767, Native American Strong Bow, the son of tribal chief True Arrow, frets that he is unable to slaughter a deer due to his innate compassion for wild animals—particularly those nurturing their young—and despite his father teaching him that merciful killing is part of nature’s cycle. Dexterously interwoven in the novel is the legacy of Virginian Thaddeus Adams, a musket-toting wildlife trapper in the early 1800s who exhibits the same empathy when confronted with a grizzly bear at his Appalachian campsite and opts for a nonlethal deterrent. Both groups share this deeply rooted “mutual love and respect for the natural world,” and as the story progresses, the two daring families, including Thaddeus’ wife, Minerva, evolve. Their fierce love of nature withstands the challenges and complexities of the traveling life. As Thaddeus and his family’s wagon train plods westward past the Mississippi River, they collaborate with Apache tribes for survival. Later, as Caleb and Ethan, two of Thaddeus’ children, grow up instilled with their parents’ respect for nature, wild animals, and Native tribes, they begin independent lives in California Gold Rush–era San Francisco. Heavily atmospheric and decorated with lush, natural details, the story illustrates the beauty and dangers of the outside world through diverse characters who are fully realized and impressively well rounded. The tale also incorporates themes of nature’s resilience, poaching dangers, and wildlife habitat protections as well as the histories of two real-life figures: influential Scottish American naturalist John Muir and Everglades conservationist and suffragist Marjory Stoneman Douglas. In previous books (including Bird Brains, 2013), Titlow scrutinized bird behavior and seashells. Environmental respect and appreciation for biodiversity are threaded throughout this story. The “Mother Earth” planetary preservation message is palpable in an ambitious tale that moves into the climate change era and satisfyingly concludes with cautionary notes of hope and motivation. Readers of expansive, engrossing historical fiction will find much to savor here.

An adventurous, passionate historical novel about an eco-friendly balance between humans and nature.