
On Heaven's Hill
Kim Heacox
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Description
Finalist for the 2023 Banff Mountain Book Award for Mountain Fiction & Poetry
An Anchorage Daily News Favorite Book of 2023
Kim Heacox, author of the National Outdoor Book Award-winning novel Jimmy Bluefeather, returns with a new, brilliant novel about family love and the lengths one will go to protect it.
"A sprawling novel brimming with suspense, ideas and unforgettable characters, On Heaven's Hill paints a captivating group portrait of a rebel alliance discovering their true selves in America's most glorious natural landscape. This book will appeal equally to aging idealists reared on Edward Abbey and adventurous kids hooked on Gary Paulsen. Oh, and it's laugh-out-loud funny, too."
--Mark Adams, New York Times bestselling author of Tip of the Iceberg and Turn Right at Machu Picchu
"Kim Heacox poses the age-old question--what price progress?--with new urgency in On Heaven's Hill, his compelling novel of an Alaskan hamlet whose remote location is no defense against big-money development. All that stands in its way is a pack of wolves and the twelve-year-old girl determined to save them. Reminiscent of John Nichols' The Milagro Beanfield War, Heacox deftly weaves lyrical tributes to the healing power of nature with a fast-paced plot that builds to a heart-pounding conclusion."
--Gwen Florio, author of Silent Hearts and the Lola Wicks series
The small town of Strawberry Flats sits on a remote Alaska coast, peacefully left to itself--until controversial plans for a road and a bridge threaten to upend everything.
Former trapper Salt d'Alene never thought he'd find himself in the midst of such a dispute, but he'll do anything to provide the best care for his son Solomon, recently diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. Eleven-year-old Kes Nash just wants her father--back from war in Afghanistan--to be normal again. And circling the perimeter of the town is a wolf, Silver, and his pack, quietly watching.
Told from three alternating perspectives, On Heaven's Hill is a vividly powerful story about rediscovering hope and finding new life in the aftermath of trauma. Filled with humor and compassion, it depicts the best of America, a place composed of wildness and kindness.
Product Details
Publisher | West Margin Press |
Publish Date | March 21, 2023 |
Pages | 304 |
Language | English |
Type | |
EAN/UPC | 9781513139111 |
Dimensions | 9.1 X 6.3 X 1.2 inches | 1.5 pounds |
About the Author
Kim Heacox is best known for his memoir The Only Kayak and his novel Jimmy Bluefeather, both winners of the National Outdoor Book Award, and for his opinion pieces in The Guardian, where he writes in celebration and defense of the natural world, mostly on the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and threats to US public lands. His book of essays and photographs, In Denali, won the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award. A keen musician and photographer, and former ranger with the US National Park Service, he lives on eighteen acres in Gustavus, Alaska, next to Glacier Bay National Park, with his wife Melanie, two sea kayaks, a Martin guitar, and forty-some chestnut-backed chickadees. Learn more at www.kimheacox.com.
Reviews
"When an intrepid wolf, a plucky twelve-year-old girl, and a former trapper must face a rapidly changing ecosystem, the more-than-human world offers powerful advice: listen closely, expand your range, and find power in the pack. Kim Heacox writes with fierce love and lucid clarity about Southeast Alaska, a place where the line between human and nature has, thankfully, nearly faded. On Heaven's Hill is the kind of story the planet needs right now." --Kimi Eisele, author of The Lightest Object in the Universe
"A dazzling tale of a young girl, a desperate father, and a silver wolf caught in the middle of a battle between an Alaskan band of war veterans and corrupt land developers. Another compelling read from the author of Jimmy Bluefeather and The Only Kayak." --Lynne M. Spreen, author of Dakota Blues and We Did This Once Before
"The novel's painterly prose evokes Alaska as a place of great beauty and scarcity...a well-plotted tale of frontier utopianism that should appeal to nature lovers." --Kirkus
Praise for Jimmy Bluefeather:
"Part quest, part rebirth, Heacox's debut novel spins a story of Alaska's Tlingit people and the land, an old man dying, and a young man learning to live." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Heacox does a superb job of transcending his characters' unique geography to create a heartwarming, all-American story." --Booklist
"A splendid, unique gem of a novel." --Library Journal (starred review)
"This is a book that could only have been written by someone who has paid very close and very loving attention to the natural and human communities--the packs and families, and the individuals that make them up. That intimate and tender observation produces a magnificent book, full of reality and hope and wild joy." -Bill McKibben, American environmentalist and founder of 350.org
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