”Two thousand years to grow a forest, a hundred years to fall it. No plague like man.”

Damnation Spring absolutely, utterly, inexorably wrecked me. Just wrapped my heart in a giant hug, only to shatter it into a million pieces, and I might never be okay again. I truly can’t remember the last time I was this emotionally invested in a book. But this story is gritty and beautiful and wild and raw, and I was captivated, from start-to-finish, by the world Ash Davidson has imagined.

”You can bury us, but you can’t keep us from digging our way out.”

Damnation Spring is the story of a logging town in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s, where the only known way of life is cutting timber. Logging jobs keep the town’s entire economy running, with roofs over heads and food on tables. But when people start connecting the dots between the use of unregulated chemicals and the spate of miscarriages, birth defects, and cancer diagnoses in their midst, some of them start questioning whether the industry is worth the risk.

”When you poison the land, you’re poisoning your own body.”

Davidson’s writing is richly imagined, with enough immersive detail to make you feel like you’re a part of the story yourself. This is a book that just envelops your entire imagination as you read, with people and places so fully articulated that they seem three-dimensional. I can understand how some readers might have found the level of detail excessive, especially when it came to the technical logging jargon, but I adored every minute of it. I thought it added to the atmosphere of the story in such a tangible way.

”You get a miracle in life, you take it. You don’t ask why.”

The subject matter throughout the story is challenging and often heartbreaking. Davidson expertly explores themes of grief, loss, greed, betrayal, and the ways that communities can destroy themselves with political divisiveness. (And that ending made me want to go back in time and just stop reading when Rich bought the goldfish… I wish I’d never gone beyond that point, and just let the story end there in my mind!)

”If he could jam a wedge in and stop the machine, cogs of time grinding to a halt, he would stop it here: the three of them together, the 24-7 stubborn, proud, and, for now—for another week or two, whatever short time was left—his.”

But, despite all of that, this is hands-down one of the best books I’ll read all year. Damnation Spring is moving, provocative, and laced with all the rawness of humanity. A five-star book and then some!

——

A huge thank you to Ash Davidson, Scribner, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Scribner y'all have quickly became one of my top ten favorite publishers.
And I can't thank you enough for this ebook approval.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel.
And Author Ash you girl are a force to be reckon with! This debut novel is going to make waves!
I received this ebook after publication date.....

Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson is a debut novel.
And one that I will scream and talk about to anyone who will listen to me!
A beautiful story with a narrative that is as beautiful as the setting of the story!
The character development and writing were truly amazing!
This story will speak to everyone's heart!
Can't put into words really..... Just read this book! You'll love it!

An Environmental Book Hugger Manifesto

Set in 1977 in a diminishing redwood forest on the California coast, Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson takes readers on a year-in-the-life journey of the Gundersons, a multi-generational logging family.

As we navigate through each season, we read from multiple perspectives.
Rich Gunderson, husband and father, secretly buys a large piece of land hoping to establish a financially secure future for his small family by selling the timber. His wife Colleen, an unlicensed midwife who has had eight miscarriages herself, has witnessed other women in the community grieve over the loss of their own babies as well. And we even get a glimpse at life from Chub’s perspective, 6 years-old and the youngest member of the Gunderson family, spends his days navigating the forest with his father, learning skills that’s been passed down through the generations.

Rich is hoping his current employer, Sanderson Timber Co., will build the road needed to remove his redwood trees. That same timber company has been using herbicides that just might be the impetus of the increasing number medical issues in the community, and Colleen is hoping to find out the truth.

In a community whose foundation is logging, the harmful effects of long-term deforestation are thoughtfully explored through this narrative. Through the eyes of Rich, Colleen, and Chub, Davidson does a fantastic job showing us both sides of this divisive issue. The ebb and flow of the story has a nice balance of the slow every day minutiae of this rural setting to the propulsive, gut wrenching and cheek drenching tragedies that occur. Certainly there were characters I would consider the “bad guys,” but most members of this small community have a place in my heart.

It’s a book that I hugged and sobbed over, and it left this tree lover girl aching for that small community of hard working loggers.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. I also have a newly purchased copy of it as well.

*4-4.5 stars.

There was a time when we were taught in elementary school that America's natural resources were abundant and unlimited and provided by God for the use and profit of our citizens: forests, oil, coal, water, the very soil itself. In just a few generations, we're becoming all too aware of what that greedy thinking has done to the environment.

Hand in hand with that hubris was the idea of 'better living through chemistry.' Nasty weeds and bugs hindering your crops, your profits, your enjoyment of nature? Spray them!

Ah, but there were unintended consequences. In 1962, biologist Rachel Carson published her book Silent Spring, setting off alarms that the widespread use of chemicals like DDT were also endangering species of birds and animals and causing birth defects and tumors in humans. Within 10 years, the Environmental Protection Agency had been formed under Richard Nixon and the use of DDT was illegal in the United States.

But there were other chemicals being used with abandon during that era, such as Agent Orange, an herbicide and defoliant, a mixture of equal parts of two herbicides, 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, used by the United States government during the Vietnam War from 1961-1971. The effect of that usage on American soldiers and on the people, animals and vegetation of Vietnam are still being felt to this day.

The use of those chemicals and its unintended effects is a central theme in this story about the logging of the giant redwoods in Northern California in the late 70s. The chemical is being used to defoliate the brush and weeds to make it easier to get in and cut down the trees.

The main characters of the story are the Gundersen family. Richard Gundersen is a fourth-generation high-climber working for Lifetime Sanderson Timber Company which employs 58 local residents in its mill and logging operations. A recent mudslide which closed Highway 101 north of Klamath has sparked debate over the timber industry's slash-and-burn policies and tree-huggers are staging protests. Sanderson's current plans are to harvest two old-growth parcels of redwoods known as Damnation Grove but these environmentalists are trying to stop it from going forward. They'd love to see this whole area of ancient redwoods become a protected state park.

Not only might Rich Gundersen lose his logging job, but unbeknownst to his young wife, he has recently purchased acres of bordering property and hopes to use Sanderson's right of way to harvest his own redwood trees. In fact, he has risked everything on those hopes.

But his young wife Colleen is becoming aware of the human costs of how the lumber company operates. She has suffered several miscarriages herself and as a midwife, has documented nearly a dozen cases of abnormalities in babies born in the area over the last six years. She worries that the aerial spraying of herbicides to control weeds may be contaminating local water sources including their own spring-fed drinking water. Above all else, she has their young son Graham to protect.

These worries are tearing the community apart. What is more important--your livelihood or your family's health? Rich and Colleen are on opposite sides of these issues but will they be able to continue to love and support each other regardless?

The scene and characters are well described by this debut author but the story does gets bogged down early on by perhaps too much descriptive writing and a few too many characters. Hang in there though--the central conflict soon takes the stage and has you quickly turning pages to see how this will be resolved. This was very close to a 5-star read for me.

I received an arc of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I will definitely look forward to reading more from this fine writer.

Atmospheric and compelling! Damnation Spring is told in a plain, rugged fashion that mirrors the struggling inhabitants of this California logging community and has me longing to visit the ancient greenery of the Pacific Northwest.

Oh, Ash Davidson . . . you’re killin' me, Smalls! This novel is as real as fiction gets folks. Get ready to be hit with a full array of emotions. I mean ALL the feels. It even has a few annoying repetitive human quirks, such is life, the goings-on in the routine of a small family attempting to carve out a full and meaningful life in between the mighty trees.

Unlike some other reviewers, I did not mind the use of local timber industry terminology and slang, I like being immersed in a way of life that is foreign to me, to walk in another's shoes and get a strong understanding of their plight.

I could definitely feel the frustrations of these people who were caught making super hard choices . . . keep your job? Save your community? preserve your heritage? protect the land and the people you love? feed your family? build a future? All separate, yet all intertwined like the massive root systems of the majestic Redwood trees standing so very high above them.

I'd like to thank the author, NetGalley, and Scribner for allowing me to read a copy of Damnation Spring for an honest review. 5 stars.

I wish to thank NetGalley and Scribner Publishers for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is story that I thought I would really enjoy but as I started reading it I got lost in the wordiness of it all. Somehow it took over the story and I was just lost. I would put the book down and when I picked it up again it was the same thing. I know there is a wonderful story in here somewhere but I just could not wade through the descriptions and logging terminology to get to the meat of the story. New characters kept coming and it was hard to keep them straight. I finally gave up half way through. As much as I hate to say it, sorry this one is just not for me.

This book broke my heart several times over and then put it back together. It's a love letter to the environment as well as a family drama; addressing pregnancy losses, marriage and relationships. Damnation Springs is an incredibly powerful and moving book - quite possibly one the most moving I've read so far this year. While some parts were a bit slow, I couldn't put the book down.

I really struggled through this one. The story itself I think could have been really wonderful, but the writing was disjointed and for me personally the amount of technical things about logging was too much.

I struggled with this one. The Book gets bogged down with all of the logging terminology. I never connected with the plot or the characters and found the ending very unsatisfying. I would skip this one.

I can definitely see why this was a book of the month pick. The story was SO entertaining! Such a good read.

4.5 stars, rounded up
This book tugged at my heart almost from the beginning. Rich is a logger, a tree topper. It’s a dangerous job and both his father and grandfather died doing it. It’s 1977 and the industry is changing. There are fewer trees, workers are getting laid off. Folks are just starting to realize the impact of harvesting trees on the environment and there are protestors. It’s a hardscrabble life and Rich decides to gamble on buying one of the last stands of “big pumpkins” around, despite barely having the money for the down payment. Oh, and he neglects to tell his wife about his purchase.
His wife, Colleen, recently suffered a miscarriage and is still in mourning. She’s a midwife, although she lacks the formal education and state licenses. When her college beau reappears testing the local streams, she realizes the company’s use of herbicides is the reason for the number of miscarriages and birth anomalies in the area. It’s a true family saga in all its glory. Because Rich and Colleen still love each other. But they’re no longer truly communicating. And there are other family issues that muddy the waters as well.
As folks in the area start taking sides, things get ugly. It’s a glimpse on a small scale of what things can get like on the big scale when people only see black and white.
This book begs to be a book club selection. There’s a lot of meat here. It highlights just how hard it is to step away from a way of life that goes back generations, even as you can see the harm it’s doing.
That said, the book could have been tighter. It’s the opposite of fast paced and at times, it did feel like a slog, especially in the beginning. I still recommend it because of the wonderful characters and the themes explored.
My thanks to Netgalley and Scribner for an advance copy of this book.

Somewhere in the midst of all these descriptive words and unnecessary chapters is a story. There is way too much logging jargon with no explanation of what it means. There are characters that are not properly introduced so it gets very confusing and wishy washy.

Rich, Colleen and Chub are the main characters, though many characters are introduced, sort of, throughout the story. It’s hard to keep up with who is a relative, who is a worker and who is a friend. Rich is a logger and has been cutting down redwood trees his whole life. Colleen, his wife, has suffered multiple miscarriages and has had one live birth, Chub. She begins to suspect the chemicals in the sprays have caused her miscarriages, along with congenital deformities in other babies and animals. So, in a nutshell, their livelihood and the only job Rich has ever known are in jeopardy because of the dangerous chemicals being sprayed in the forest.

In essence, this is a story about family, love, loss and the dangerous job of logging. I’m rating it 2/5 stars as it was just too wordy and I don’t feel it ended well. It kept me hanging and wishing for some closure.

Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson

This a magnificent novel. The most appropriate term is “gritty realism”. If you love descriptive writing, this is your book. If you hate detail and adapting to jargon, give it a pass. (That would really be an unfortunate choice, though.)

The novel is set in 1977-1978 in northern California, in and around Klamath. Rich Gunderson is 51 and a fourth-generation logger. His wife Colleen is a 34-year-old who serves as a midwife, though without formal training. Their son Chub is an energetic 8-year-old. From them we learn about the friends, relatives, and trash who have similar long-time connections to the community.

The whole area depends on logging, and it is a company town. Everyone knows that without logging, there would be few opportunities. But environmentalists are beginning to sound alarms. [The EPA was found at the end of 1970. The Redwood National Park nearly doubled in size in the spring of 1978. The Department of Agriculture halted the use of 2,4,5-T on food crops in 1970. The Yurok tribe was fighting for the Klamath River fishing rights granted by the Supreme Court in 1973.] Even Rich’s homestead has been taken by the government, though they can continue to live there until he and his wife die.

Damnation Spring deals with how these changes impact a family and a community not prepared for the end of their long-standing way of life. It is especially, though, a story of the power of love, with Colleen at the center.

Shrewd Debut of Climate Fiction

Environmental Damage – no disputes about the injuries it causes, at least, for many of us.

Ash Davidson tackled a big subject. She not only extoled about environmental injuries but she molded a strong storyline about loggers, their wives, their families and the anti-logging aggressive groups. The focus is on Rich Gundersen, a physically tall and good-looking man, married to Colleen. They have one son they call Chub. Colleen is desperate for more children; she has had many miscarriages and serves as a midwife.

There are many developments connected in this smart plot. Davidson makes sure the reader knows the story from many angles. Rich, who is in his early 50’s, does not want to die young like his father and many other loggers. He. He invested in a large expanse of land with older redwoods which could provide monetary security for himself, wife and son– something no one has achieved in his family.

There are secondary characters who are important. There is Daniel, a researcher and college boyfriend of Colleen, who uncovers possible chemicals sprayed by the timber company. Are these responsible for birth deformation? And there is Enid, Colleen’s younger sister, who pops out babies one after the other. Colleen resolves many of Enid’s problems without the benefit of her own brood of children.

It is an old story: man versus nature. Davidson tackled these problems in an easy manner, no hysteria but underneath it all, we are suffering with the main characters. Highly recommended.

My gratitude to Netgalley and Scribner for this pre-published book. All opinions expressed are my own.

After seeing Damnation Spring as a Book of the Month option and then all over Instagram, I added it to my wishlist. I happened to see it as a Read Now title on NetGalley and grabbed it. I knew from the synopsis that this wasn't going to be a light, easy read. It was going to be intense.

This book broke my heart several times over and put it back together. It's a love letter to the environment, but so much more. It's a family drama, addressing pregnancy losses, marriage, and relationships. It addresses the problems and effects of pesticides. It discusses the environment.

Damnation Spring is an incredibly powerful and moving book - quite possibly one the most moving I've read so far this year. While some parts were a bit slow, overall, I couldn't put this book down.

4/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was really beautifully written. Davidson understands how to make characters that are easy to relate to and suuuuper easy to empathize with. I found myself intensely frustrated /with/ them. The prose is also beautiful - definitely wordy, but I don't find that to be a negative at all. I think it flows well.

Damnation Spring
by Ash Davidson
Scribner
General Fiction (Adult)
Pub Date 03 Aug 2021 | Archive Date 03 Aug 2021
Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the ARC. I enjoyed it somewhat. It was one I finished in a few days. It started slow but picked ups and you get to the meat of the story.

What a debut! This book is phenomenal and you would not want to miss it. Why did I pick this book out of all the books that are on queue on my kindle? I don't know but I am glad I did! Set in the late 70s in the woods in a California redwood logging community, where its people depends on the life of the woods but not realizing the damage they are causing to it. It was hard to put down! Lovely read. I highly recommend this book to anyone who's able to pick a book up.

a good debut. i think ash davidson will do well in the coming years. i willmost certainly keep an eye out for her books

DAMNATION SPRINGS is a beautifully written novel about a difficult topic: lives on the edge of poverty. There are the age-old competitions between: workers and owners, environmental activists vs. loggers, and those between native dwellers vs. recent arrivals. While there is a lot of disagreement portrayed in this tale, there is also love. And the vicissitudes of fate. Author Ash Davidson has done a very good job with this, her first novel. She will be a definite author to follow. A shout out to her also, for her Arizona roots and current life! I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.