After his third tour in Iraq, Dave is coming apart at the seams. His PTSD is getting more intense, his marriage to Nadene is on the rocks. The only thing that’s going right is that, despite all the chaos, his 7-1/2-year-old daughter Bella seems to be flourishing.
When tragedy strikes, the only way Dave seems to find peace is through hiking in the North Cascades. The more time he spends there, the more he thinks that retreat from the world around them is the answer, so he makes the decision to move with Bella to an isolated cave in the mountains.
"Dave no longer wished to be around anybody, except for his daughter. And what was left for a child down there but a world that would likely forsake her, a world that would wring the wonder and humanity right out of her, as it sought to reduce her life force to an algorithm? The modern world held no more promise for Bella than it did for Dave."
It’s a beautiful setting but a difficult life, and people become more concerned about Bella’s safety. But as the two grow more comfortable living off the land, Bella starts to have visions, of a mother and son who lived in the same cave during the Ice Age. Both families will need to have strength in order to survive the world around them.
Jonathan Evison is a beautiful writer. I’ve enjoyed a few of his other books in the past, but his prose here is particularly luminous and poetic. I liked the different components of the story, and it brought attention to the treatment of veterans in this country. However, I felt like the pieces of the story lacked cohesion and it all didn’t quite flow together.
Thanks to Algonquin Books for inviting me on the tour and providing a complimentary copy of Legends of the North Cascades in exchange for an unbiased review!!
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