On paper, Damnation Spring seems like the kind of book I would love. It's a family saga, the struggle of the environment against commerce, a love story. In the end though, it almost feels as if it's trying to be too many things and only halfway succeeding at any of them.

Rich Gundersen is a third generation logger. He lives on land that his father lived on and his father's father, the man who cleared the land and built the house with his bare hands. The property isn't Rich's anymore, it belongs to the National Park System, acquired recently, and Rich can stay on it for 25 years or until his wife dies. Like others in this small community, his life is controlled by the cycles of logging, lean times in the rainy season, long days in the summer. Rich's

father dreamed of buying a nearby allotment with some of the last big redwood growth before his untimely demise in a logging accident. When the opportunity presents itself for Rich to purchase the land ,knowing that he can piggyback off of a nearby logging project, he snaps it up, hoping to leave something for his young wife and son. Of course, what Rich doesn't know is that his small community is about to find itself at the center of a debate over the felling of the last great redwood forests, and the impact on the environment that logging has had.

I think the outline of this story succeeds but the book is too long by about 100 pages and the characters fall flat. There's exhaustive descriptions of mud, mudslides, logging techniques. The bad characters are extremely bad and the good characters are extremely good, with the exception of Rich's wife, Colleen, who's perspective is told in alternating chapters, along with Rich and their son Chub.

An okay read but certainly not as moving as some of the reviews led me to believe.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

“Damnation Spring”, by Ash Davidson, is a beautifully told, thought-provoking and moving tale about love, work, community, and a memorable family.

Told in a gorgeous prose, this story immerses you in the plight of the Northern California logging community in the 1970s. It’s a slow burn that captures your interest and your heart.

Where did you get this heartbreaking book? At the heartbreaking bookstore. IYKYK.

Thank you to Netgalley, Ash Davidson and Scribner for the ARC in exchange for my honest review! ❤️️

It’s 1977 and Rich and his wife Colleen live in Klamath, California. Klamath is located in Del Norte County near the California/Oregon border. Rich is a logger like his father and grandfather. Colleen is a stay-at-home mom. Rich is offered a piece of land with some valuable old growth redwoods. He barely qualifies for a loan and buys this land, without telling Colleen, in hopes of harvesting the trees for a once-in-a-lifetime payout. The book goes into great detail about the hardships of logging families, the relative short run of logging old growth trees, and the awful things the companies did to turn a profit. One of which was spraying poisonous chemicals that ended up in the water.
.
I’m from Del Norte County. I was born there in 1977. I have a lot of family that still lives there. When I was very young I lived out in a rural spot though probably not as rural as the people in the book. It’s definitely left me wondering about the water supply. The descriptions of the dangers of working in the logging industry are not a surprise. My grandpa was a logging trucker and was killed in an accident in 1982. A tree was felled on his semi-truck.

The physical descriptions of the area in this book are so accurate that within 10 pages I stopped to look up the author and see if she was from Del Norte County. She is. If you pay attention you will know what the place looks, smells, and feels like. The only inaccuracy that I came upon (and it really annoyed me) was the misspelling of Del Norte.
.
The book is good but quite slow. Especially the first half. It’s a lot of inner thoughts and not a lot of action. The plight of these logging families is dire and the plight of the trees is equally dire.

Ash Davidson’s novel immersed me in an enchanted forest, one of ancient redwoods with names, and a world of burl poaching, logging, and the environmental impacts not only on nature but humans. Colleen, who has experienced seven miscarriages, starts questioning the use of chemicals used to keep the forest floor clear while her husband is investing deeper into the lumber business. The author successfully straddles two worlds and each character comes to life amid ever-present woods surrounding them. A terrific debut by this author. 4.5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley for giving me access to this great novel.


Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES. Rich and Chub’s green blue eyes are almost a full fledged character.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO. The book, about redwoods,the surrounding forest and environmental impacts, is well researched horticulturally.

Thank you to Ash Davidson, NetGalley, and Simon & Schuster for providing a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book! I love the premise: the breakdown of a marriage tracked alongside the breakdown of the surrounding land, literally crumbling under their feet. I love the snapshot into the life of this very-specific community at a very-specific point in time-- and, even though some of the vernacular seemed a bit overused (how many times must we hear the word pumpkin?!?), I loved that too. So much about Davidson's writing feels earthy, complicated, and honest. The refusal to make this a cliché "man against nature" novel? *chef's kiss* Those aspects of the book are singularly beautiful, and kept me picking up the book, which is admittedly LONG.

But what I wish were done better, or differently, is character development. The book is 450+ pages I felt like the pinging back and forth across story-lines was distracting and took away from a chance to deeply flesh out Davidson's characters and their relationships. Colleen's relationship with her college beau? Unnecessary! We could have sliced that entire backstory out of the novel and been left with the heart of the story. Ditto for Rich's ex and his tooth saga. Could have sliced it and diced it and still been left with a solid picture of Colleen, Rich, and their marriage. I would argue we would actually have had a better picture, because more page time could have been spent on their interactions with each other.

The character relationship I wish most page time had been devoted to was actually the one between Colleen and her sister (who gets just ONE chapter of the book, but WHAT a chapter! We gain such a good understanding of the undercurrents of their relationship and their life choices just by that one chapter. I wanted more!)

I wish the plot line had been tighter-- even towards the end, we had Chub's strongly foreshadowed death and the whole storyline of his cousin pushing him and almost mortally injuring him, but then wait, he's okay and then it's RICH who died instead.

Though, now that I write that, I can see sooooort of ties into this idea of generationality, of passing things down through the ages-- Rich being given his entire life and livelihood from his father and father's friend, who inherited and learned from their grandfathers. Ditto for the Kuruk and Yurok peoples, literally becoming so entwined in their lifestyle that they're said to have salmon in their veins. I can see how this ties into that last line "where'd you get those eyes?" and how Rich and his land will live on in Chub, hopefully for better. But it feels a little overwrought, a little bit of a stretch, too intimated and not fully explored, when as I said, so many pages are devoted to topics that just don't add to the importance of this book.

Overall, solid read, definitely worth picking up, but it hits just below the mark. I will be looking ahead to whatever else Davidson publishes in future, because I have the feeling she's just getting started as a writer.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read and review this book post publication.

I did not finish this book, as I found the beginning incredibly slow. I know it is getting a lot of buzz, but this one just did not work for me.

Set in a Pacific Northwest logging town in the 1970's, Damnation Spring is a beautiful and devastating tale of love and life and the delicate balance between preserving a community's way of life and protecting the environmental resources that make it possible. Colleen, an amateur midwife, and Rich Gundersen, a tree-topper/high climbing lumberjack, are raising their young son on the California coast. Their story is set decades ago when the environmental movement started to pick up steam, but many of the challenges faced are the same ones we see today.

Damnation Spring is a poignant tale of family, community, and connection to the land, told through the eyes of the Gunderson family (including the 8-year-old son, Chub) as the narrator and perspective shifts. The characters and the struggles they face are well-developed and the plot flows clearly. Damnation Spring is a highly recommended and important read.

Damnation Spring fully drew me into a world that I knew little about. The story took place in 1977 and centers around the issues between loggers and environmentalists, family drama and also whether or not the run off from the pesticides used to clear roads were harmful to people. It was thought provoking and the detailed descriptions of the issues, characters and settings really captivated me. I do wish that I had stopped reading the book prior to the last few chapters and I was not a fan of the author's attempt to end the book with a shocking twist. I still rating it 5 stars because I still can't stop thinking about the book even days after I finished it.

Work for the logging company in a company town and you do what you are told. It is 1977 and the timber industry is struggling to survive in the redwood forest of Northern California. People who have worked the trees for generations are trying to eke out an existence just ahead of the advancing national park expansion. The "tree hugger" hippies are stirring up trouble and all the workers want to do is put bread on the table. Families are torn when confronted with the rumors that herbicides sprayed by the logging company may be poisoning them, actually causing miscarriages and birth defects. Any lack of solidarity is answered with swift reprisals from both the company and the community.

Ash Davidson has loaded "Damnation Spring" with distinct, vibrant characters. Colleen is the area's midwife who is traumatized from suffering eight miscarriages. Her husband Rich is an aging logger who has not yet told Colleen that he has gambled the family finances on the purchase of the last choice lot of trees. Colleen's sister Enid has always been the wild one and Enid's husband Eugene, while he could easily be pigeonholed as the villain, has his motivations shown. Then there is Lark, a loveable crusty old coot who should command a book of his own.

This could easily have stalled out as an environmental sermon. It didn't. These are real people with pivotal dilemmas they are struggling with. The environmentalists are not above playing dirty to prevail and the logging families are not just out to crush out a quick profit. The pacing stutters just a bit early on as we are educated on the mechanics of bringing trees down, but this unavoidable step is accomplished as painlessly as possible.

5 stars for an excellent plot, excellent characters. Highly recommended. I will be lobbying for a prequel featuring Lark sometime down the road.

I am grateful to Ash Davidson, Scribner Books, and NetGalley for providing the Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review. #DamnationSpring #NetGalley

Damnation Springs is a beautiful novel. It took me a bit to get started but once I got into the story I couldn’t stop. It’s the story of a small town built around logging the Redwoods in California. It’s at its essence the story of survival, but the family component is so well done. As in any small town, the are many aspects of town life that are interconnected and in many respects a small town is a family. You have that close knit feel, but also that black sheep in the town. And, you are left to wonder who will survive the drama that ensues. Thanks to NetGalley for the read.

This book was very lengthy with its descriptions and wording.. Much use of the g**damn word. A very frustrating read for me. I really tried and wanted to like it but it just did not happen. Against my better judgment I did finish it thinking that eventually it would redeem itself but that did not happen.

Damnation Spring was a beautifully written novel set in rural Northern California redwood country in the late 1970s. The story is primarily told by three narrators: Colleen, a thirty-something mother who has experienced 8 miscarriages and initially struggles with blaming herself for them; Rich, her fifty-something loving, logger husband who grew up idolizing the 24-7 ridge and jumps at a chance to buy it; and Chub, their sweet, curious 5 year old son.

The book poignantly describes the community’s dependency on logging and the income it provides, while also describing the horrible effects of the logging and the chemicals used to kill weeds and other growth. The characters and story line are compelling. I devoured this book and enjoyed it tremendously.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

What a wonderfully informative and well-written book! Ash Davidson did a beautiful job of describing the state of the NW logging world in the 1970's and the related stresses that existed for the families in the community. It once again reminded me of the lack of honesty regarding herbicides used for so many purposes in the USA and the affect of the herbicides on our earth. Well worth the read.

While this book has a bit of a slow start and lots of background the premise of the story just tugs at your heart. In 1977 the logging industry is changing , facing protestors that want to save the environment. When Colleen's college boyfriend comes to town and starts investigating the water they realize the chemicals that have been used for years were responsible for miscarriages and birth defects. As the town people start taking sides things start getting ugly and divided.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book.

This book was one I was super excited for. I made it to about 185 pages, over a third into the book and I just had to put it down. It was a bit depressing and I got the feeling I knew where the story was leading. Obvious pollution and spraying of weeds is clearly harming the human and animal population. It was a good literary commentary on the way humans handle nature and how our interference leads to repercussions we can't understand. I was trying to read this bit by bit each evening, but I felt a bit defeated by this book. I need to read some reviews from others who have finished it in its entirety.

I really thought I was going to like this one, but the story started out really look and it took my quite some time to really get into it! For a book that is nearly 450 pages, I would have expected it to be a little more engaging throughout. I felt like only the last 100 pages were really interesting when Colleen really starts to figure things out. It was also a little difficult when besides Rich and Colleen, most of the other characters were pretty unlikable. Though I have heard many great reviews from BOTM subscribers, this book was challenging for me, especially because it was so slow paced.

With language as lush as the redwood forest, Ash Davidson weaves a tragedy that pits issues of ecology, community, work and family against each other. The story is mainly told from three viewpoints: Colleen, a midwife, who has struggled with her own series of miscarriages; her husband, Rich, a logger who realizes that he must take a huge financial risk to provide for the future; Chub, their young son, loving the forest life but not registering the threats around him, nor the precarious future ahead. Davidson creates a world showing the hardships of logger life and the beauty of that world. When issues are raised the impacts are shown on both sides….loggers and “tree-huggers.” The reader gets to know the three main characters, while other character arcs may be initially harder to follow. Staying with the novel may be a challenge at times, but in the end, the novel will stay with the reader long after the final page. Recommended. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this title.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the ebook of this novel to read and review.

After reading the description of this novel, I know I would love it. But not so much. I took a break about half-way through because it was such a chore to read. I didn’t know what the logging terms meant and even the context didn’t help. Trees are called pumpkins? When I picked it up again, I enjoyed it more, maybe because I knew it would end eventually. I did like the main characters - Rich,, Colleen, and Chub, but there were way too many minor characters for me to keep track of and remember where they fit in the story. I know it’s odd to like the main characters and dislike the book, but I thought they deserved more. Speed up the flow of the story would have helped for me.
Lots of social issues that are still important today, but I was glad when I finished.

"Damnation Springs" takes place the 70s in the redwoods of California and is about a logging family who struggle
to stay financially afloat as the laws on fishing salmon, logging, and pollution threaten the way the people have been living for generations. To some degree, the novel isn't filled with surprises because so much is based on these issues, and we know how that has affected logging, but on a personal level, Ash Davidson creates believable characters and shows us not only the political side, but the deeply personal side and how all these EPA changes the family dynamics.

Our main character, Rich, has spent his life working for the timber company. He marries a much younger woman who is as tough as him, but when he decides to buy a large piece of land to work, he doesn't tell his wife, Colleen, and we watch how she keeps secrets also.

The novel is filled with grudges, miscarriages, drinking, environmental destruction, loyalty, and distrust. This is well written novel that will appeal to most readers.

I really wanted to like this book a whole lot more. It checked off all my boxes of historical fiction, a family dealing with struggles and social issues but it fell short for me. Colleen and Rich have one son who they call Chub. She is desperate to have another baby but after eight miscarriages Rich doesn't want to try anymore. He is older than Colleen and works as a logger, a job which killed both his grandfather and father. They both hope for a better life for their son and without telling Colleen Rich buys some land they could make them rich from the timber growing on it.

I liked Rich. He comes across as a good and fair man and he loves his family. There are some tree huggers in the area and an old boyfriend of Colleen's is investigating the use of herbicides in the area. Could they be the cause of Colleen's miscarriages and the numerous birth defects seen in other families? Her sister and her family were horrible, nasty and mean.

There were so many characters in this book that after a while I just stopped trying to figure out who they were and if they were important. The story is told from Rich's and Colleen's points of view. Rich's were filled with a lot of logging terms that were not every explained. Why did they call trees pumpkins and what is a crummy? His chapters were just a slog to get through but there were parts of the book I loved and others not so much. I wanted to know more about the protests. I wanted to understand the logging and the problems Rich anticipated with the land he bought. Sometimes I felt like I was about to get an epiphany and then the bubble burst.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Scribner for providing me with a copy of this story.