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A graceful and compelling first novel that pays tribute to the magic and unfathomable mystery of the natural world.
About the author
Sarah Louise Butler has published short fiction in
Room magazine. She has a degree in Physical Geography and volunteer experience in wildlife research. This is her first novel. She lives with her son in Nelson, BC.
Summary
A graceful and compelling first novel that pays tribute to the magic and unfathomable mystery of the natural world.
It all starts with an impossibly large set of tracks, footprints for a creature that could not possibly exist. The words sasquatch, bigfoot and yeti never occur in this novel, but that is what most people would call the hairy, nine-foot creature that would become a lifelong obsession for Aidan Fitzpatrick, and in turn, his granddaughter Sandy Langley.
The novel spans the course of single winter day, interspersed with memories from Sandy’s life—childhood days spent with her distracted, scholarly grandfather in a remote cabin in British Columbia’s interior mountains; later recollections of new motherhood; and then the tragic disappearance that would irrevocably shape the rest of her life, a day when all signs of the mysterious creature would disappear for thirty years. When the enigmatic tracks finally reappear, Sandy sets out on the trail alone, determined to find out the truth about the mystery that has shaped her life.
The Wild Heavens is an impressive and evocative debut, containing beauty, tragedy and wonder in equal parts.
Additional text
"In The Wild Heavens, Sarah Louise Butler demonstrates an astonishing ability to mix an intense and precise attention to detail regarding the natural world and family life with a powerful and convincing evocation of the inexplicable occurrences and essential mysteries that are aspects of both. Set amid the forests of B.C.’s southern Interior, and depicting a fractured but resilient family, her tale nevertheless speaks truths than apply to any landscape and any household. The result is a gripping read: Butler’s accomplished command of style and story invites readers in and shows them marvels."
