'Prodigal Summer' describes a single burgeoning season as experienced by the inhabitants of an Appalachian farming community. Deanna Wolfe is a Forest Service ranger who watches over the complex ecosystem of Zebulon mountain; Eddie Bondo is a young hunter to whom a predator is merely prey. Garnett Walker is a widower still mourning his long-dead wife and the blight-struck American Chestnut. Garnett conducts a determined philosophic battle with his neighbor and nemesis Nannie Riley. Lusa Landowski is an outsider who becomes stranded in Zebulon county after her young husband's tragic death. A complex web of human needs and desires surrounded by the greater struggle between species continuation and species extinction. Prose is luxurious and sensual and the text is woven through with both grief and humor.
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