GROWLAND

A Los Angeles teacher leaves her job and her husband and moves with her two daughters to start a new life in Humboldt County in this debut novel.

As she approaches her mid-40s, Celeste feels that her life in Southern California is empty. She has a good career in education, but she is unhappy with her philandering husband, Victor. She decides to leave him and take her daughters north to Humboldt County. She is thinking of Tom, an old boyfriend from 27 years ago who lives in the area. In Celeste’s memory, he’s still attractive and reliable, but many years have passed, and his appearance has changed. He’s also in a relationship with Luna, a dreadlocked woman who functions as the emotional pillar of the far-flung community. Tom and Luna generously offer a cabin to stay in, which Celeste gladly accepts even if she is perturbed by the ubiquitous presence of marijuana. Back in LA, Victor has hired a private investigator to find the missing trio, and up in South Humboldt, Celeste’s older daughter has taken a shine to Jonah, Tom and Luna’s son. Jake, Tom’s son from his first marriage, looks enticing to Celeste despite a sizable age difference. As Celeste begins to love her new home, she unwisely gets into a relationship with Jake while the ever present threat of the authorities looms over the isolated area where marijuana rules all. Moskowitz’s novel is written with the kind of rich details and realistic insights that insiders would know. She deftly describes this alternate world among the redwood forests as a place of refuge and healing, where the morality is pure but untamed and flirts with criminality. Sometimes, everything seems upside down in this realm (“In SoHum the rivers all flowed north, like the Nile”). Not every choice Celeste makes is stellar, but the tragedies are as integral to her vivid journey as the abundant benefits.

A compelling and candid tale about starting over in a beguiling environment.