Into the Forest - Jean Hegland

Read for: Dewey's Books Challenge

Into the Forest was the first on my list for this challenge after reading Dewey's fantastic review. A pseudo post-apocalyptic tale of two sister living alone in their home in the forest after society collapses and our modern way of life becomes a thing of the past. Unlike most such novels, no disaster has struck the world, it is more a slow decline. Yet chaos reigns, power becomes a rare commodity and food becomes more and more scarce.

It is in this world that we meet Nell and Eva, two sisters, who although very different, have a close bond with each other and their bohemian parents. Having grown up in this forest home, they are already somewhat distanced from city life, and this is perhaps why they have survived so long. The story follows the girls and their everyday struggles, while through a series of flashbacks, we also learn about their parents, and life before.

Hegland does not dwell on the cause behind the loss of our way of life, and it soon becomes apparent that knowing any further details are irrelevant. The tale itself concerns the girls and their struggle to maintain a normal life and sense of family, isolated as they are. Now don't get me wrong, there are some plot holes, that might annoy some people a little too much. I won't go into any detail as they would involve major spoilers!

Needless to say, some events and character descriptions are written in an incredible amount of detail, while others are glossed over. There are also a few dubious decisions made by the author in the direction she takes her characters in the latter half of the book. But what struck me most was Hegland's writing. Boy does it make up for every and any other flaw in this book! The lyrical prose follows every aspect of the sister's lives, often in painful detail. The sheer idea for example of a girl to whom ballet and music mean everything, having no music to listen to once the electricity stops, to be forced to dance only to a metronome, is written so beautifully that it is heartbreaking.

The aspect that I loved most about this book though, was the forest. To start with it is merely the location in which the characters live, with little detail or thought put into it. Then it becomes a place of beauty and reflection, to remind them of what they have, before it is all suddenly and brutally taken away. For a long time, the forest seems dark and sinister until later, it becomes a lifeline through which the girls are forced to find ways of feeding, clothing and housing themselves.

Although a book with some flaws, I would recommend it if only for Hegland's writing and the beauty in which she can set a scene of situation, rip it all away, then allow it to recover. A truly different and refreshing take on the usual end-of-the-world novel.