The Harrows of Spring
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4.2 • 19 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The World Made by Hand postapocalyptic saga concludes with this “suspenseful tale spiked with suffering and violence, rough justice and love” (Booklist).
The small town of Union Grove has adapted, struggled, and thrived in the new age of civilization. But early spring is full of hardships: Fresh food is scarce and the winter stores are almost gone.
Despite the time of privation, young explorer Daniel Earle resurrects the town newspaper, and the town trustees ask him to help revive the Hudson River trade route. But even as the townsfolk strive forward, a group of visitors remind them that nothing is easy in the new world. They proclaim themselves as representatives of the Berkshire People’s Republic, spouting high-minded, near-fanatical rhetoric of social justice and absolute equality—all while demanding tribute from the citizens under slyly veiled threats.
Now, the townspeople of Union Grove will have to decide just how far they are willing to go to keep the freedom and peace for which they have fought so hard . . .
With this glimpse into a future that could become reality all too soon, James Howard Kunstler delivers “a slyly folksy, caustically hilarious, unabashedly proselytizing, and affecting finale in a keenly provocative saga.” (Booklist).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kunstler returns to his fictional post-oil world in this sequel to World Made By Hand. This time he focuses on the inhabitants of Union Grove, N. Y., who have decided to live a simpler, agrarian way of life after civilization was destroyed by its own decadence. It is a constant struggle to pool resources and the novel begins with Union Grove in the scant season between winter and spring, "the six weeks want." Robert, the ad-hoc mayor, is supporting his girlfriend through her grief over her daughter's sudden death. The town doctor's existential crisis has morphed into drug and alcohol addiction. And one of the few well-supplied farmers has resorted to nailing dead bandits to trees to ward off future attacks. Supplies and morale are low when members of the self-proclaimed Berkshires People's Republic waltz into town, singing "This Land Is Your Land." Their talk of a socialist federation is revealed to be a protection racket: when not grandstanding about privilege and diversity, the "Berkies" kill cattle and burn down barns. They're assisted by a band of pillagers and a misanthropic sniper. These caricatures are too inelegant to be satire, and not pointed enough to be parody. Fans of Kunstler's work might enjoy the ongoing saga of Union Grove; new readers will find it hard to jump in.
