This tale of a battle between a businessman and an environmentalist is ';one of the great novels of Alaska and its convoluted coast and history' (Kim Stanley Robinson, New York Timesbestselling author of New York 2140). 2017 WILLA Literary Award Winner in Contemporary Fiction Axel Hagerman has made a killing in the remote Alaskan town of Good River Harbor by selling off the spruce, the cedar, the herring, and the halibut. But when he decides to export the water from a salmon stream, he runs headlong into young Nora Montgomery, just arrived on the ferry with her piano and her dog. Nora has burned her bridges in the Lower 48, and she aims to disappear into this new homeland, with her piano as her anchor. But when Axel's next business proposition, a bear pit, turns lethal, Nora has to act. The clash, when it comes, is a spectacular and transformative act of resistance. ';A thoroughly engaging tale featuring vividly drawn characters who grab our interest from the very first pages... Moore writes so eloquently and with such passion about the natural world, from tiny tide pool inhabitants to giant grizzlies and towering hemlocks, that she leaves the reader in wonder and awe.' Booklist (starred review)

This tale of a battle between a businessman and an environmentalist is ';one of the great novels of Alaska and its convoluted coast and history' (Kim Stanley Robinson, New York Timesbestselling author of New York 2140). 2017 WILLA Literary Award Winner in Contemporary Fiction Axel Hagerman has made a killing in the remote Alaskan town of Good River Harbor by selling off the spruce, the cedar, the herring, and the halibut. But when he decides to export the water from a salmon stream, he runs headlong into young Nora Montgomery, just arrived on the ferry with her piano and her dog. Nora has burned her bridges in the Lower 48, and she aims to disappear into this new homeland, with her piano as her anchor. But when Axel's next business proposition, a bear pit, turns lethal, Nora has to act. The clash, when it comes, is a spectacular and transformative act of resistance. ';A thoroughly engaging tale featuring vividly drawn characters who grab our interest from the very first pages... Moore writes so eloquently and with such passion about the natural world, from tiny tide pool inhabitants to giant grizzlies and towering hemlocks, that she leaves the reader in wonder and awe.' Booklist (starred review)