Miracle Country – Book Review & Giveaway

Author: Kendra Atleework

Genre: Memoir

Publisher: Algonquin

Publication Date: July 14, 2020

Book Description: Kendra Atleework grew up in Swall Meadows, in the Owens Valley of the Eastern Sierra Nevada, where annual rainfall averages five inches and in drought years measures closer to zero.

Kendra’s parents taught their children to thrive in this beautiful, if harsh, landscape, prone to wildfires, blizzards, and gale-force winds. Above all, they were raised on unconditional love and delight in the natural world. After Kendra’s mother died of a rare autoimmune disease when Kendra was just sixteen, however, her once beloved desert world came to feel empty and hostile, as climate change, drought, and wildfires intensified. The Atleework family fell apart, even as her father tried to keep them together. Kendra escaped to Los Angeles, and then Minneapolis, land of tall trees, full lakes, water everywhere you look. 

But after years of avoiding her troubled hometown, she realized that she needed to come to terms with its past and present and had to go back. Miracle Country is a moving and unforgettable memoir of flight and return, emptiness and bounty, the realities of a harsh and changing climate, and the true meaning of home. For readers of Cheryl Strayed, Terry Tempest Williams, and Rebecca Solnit, this is a breathtaking debut by a remarkable writer.

Rating: 4 Stars

Review: I am huge fan of memoirs. I love reading about other people’s lives. This one did not disappoint at all. A sweeping story of a broken family surrounded by the harsh landscape that they lived in.

Kendra Atleework grew up in an idyllic family. Her parents were very loving to her and her younger brother and sister. Her parents taught them love nature even with wildfires and blizzards that occur where they reside. Kendra’s Mother dies when she is only 16 and her father tries so hard to keep their family together, but inevitably the family becomes estranged. Kendra moves to LA, her brother who has temperament issues eventually winds up in jail. While Kendra is trying to move on from her life she decides to go back to face her demons.

I found this memoir to be very moving. Kendra writes beautiful memories of her mother, her childhood and the environment she grew up in. She is so strong, even at some of her most darkest moments. If you love the combination of nature writing and memoir, this will be the perfect book for you.

I have a copy of this book to giveaway to one lucky winner. If you want an opportunity to win, please comment in this post and I will select a random winner.

Thank you NetGalley and Algonquin for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.