The Heart in the Forest

Abear offers a fantasy novel about a 60-something woman’s relationship with a male Sasquatch.

Tired of mourning the death of her husband, over two years ago, and the more recent demise of her dog, Jane Armstrong goes on a clandestine adventure. For 24 hours, she camps in the forested state park at the edge of her Port Townsend neighborhood in Washington state. Adding to the excitement, she doesn’t inform her adult children of her whereabouts and leaves her phone at home. The trip is so exhilarating that Jane repeats it about a week later, but this time, she falls and hits her head on a tree, losing consciousness. When she wakes, she’s surprised to find herself in a different spot than before, but truly shocked to see her savior, who’s at least 7 feet tall and thickly furred. Although he initially appears to be a terrifying mythical beast, he strangely utters the comforting word “SAFE!”; when Jane gets to know the Sasquatch, whose name is Oomin, she realizes that they share many similarities—both love nature, of course, but also the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley, and each has experienced the loneliness of having lost a mate. The fragile dance of their relationship is threatened by Jane’s neighbor Earl Slater, who develops a sudden preoccupation with her. Abear uses humor to offset her novel’s odd premise, when Jane wonders, early on, “Did someone slip magic mushrooms in my protein bar??” Alternating Jane and Oomin’s third-person perspectives, the author empathetically highlights the difficulty of finding connection in later years. Seeing “life’s opportunities fading like an old Polaroid” effectively compels gray-haired Jane forward, despite worries that her children may think she’s becoming senile. Oomin, too, notices silver in his fur and realizes he’d be an elder now if he still had a tribe; communicating with another being feels like a “dam bursting.” The wild, unspoiled Pacific Northwest setting is mossy and misty, teeming with owls and towering evergreens, and it makes a plausible home for Oomin.

A supernatural romantic tale that skillfully combines compassion, humor, and a dash of suspense.