Book Spotlight: Into the Forest by Jean Hegland

Readers who answered my Dystopian August survey said one of the things they'd like me to do is to spotlight books I've read in the past but not reviewed.

Today I am going to talk about INTO THE FOREST by Jean Hegland. This is what I had to say in my amazon.com review (written Sept. 28th, 2001):

A story of what would happen if all our modern technology would no longer be available to us. Once I started, I stayed up all night to finish this one. The two sisters have a realistic relationship, and I felt rather sad at the end, as if I was saying goodbye to good friends and couldn't be sure if I would ever see them again. After the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, I thought again of this book - and that the premise of the book might not be that far out of the question. Highly recommended!

It has been a long time since I read this, but I can still vividly recall the sisters Eva (who wants to be a ballet dancer) and Nell (who wants to go to Harvard) and many of the scenes.  Eva and Nell live an isolated existence in Northern California in a self-sustained house, so when society begins to crumble (due to war, terrorism, climate change, etc.), changes come about very gradually.  At first, they have to come to terms with not being able to go into town anymore.  This is hardest for Eva who has to give up her ballet classes, but as long as the electricity runs, she is determined to keep in shape for when things "return to normal".

I'd definitely be interested in rereading this one of these days.

Find out more about the novel at the author's website (some spoilers).