Francesca Malone came out to the Northern California woods to housesit for her friends Adam and Evie, whose rural cabin in the middle of nowhere promises her solitude and writing time. But she can’t help being drawn into the lives of her neighbors and friends. Leon Thibaud is an environmental activist and human-shaped force of chaos who was blamed for a forest fire he didn’t set. Native American neighbors Dan and Yvonne Silver try to keep their family and traditions alive as others attempt to eradicate them. Red Cooper blames the mining companies for poisoning the water that gave his late wife the cancer that killed her, and a lesbian couple run an experimental local school while keeping their relationship out of the public eye. There’s also Francesca's family history: her parents left Francesca and her older brother Julian struggling to form healthy relationships and nearly drove her adored younger sister Daisy to suicide. Francesca has to attempt to find her own way to do some good in the world, build a career for herself as a writer and activist, and maybe even find a romantic relationship that can last.
Jessica Abbe's SOME GREATER AWAKENING is a warm, affectionate, and frequently funny book about self-discovery and self-knowledge that explores Francesca’s growth as she figures out who she is, learns to appreciate the people around her, and gets involved in the social movements of her time. The characters are vividly drawn and well-rounded; they have histories, defining moments of their own, and fully human personalities. Even Leon—whose impulsiveness, thoughtlessness, and womanizing tendencies make him seem shallow at first—has hidden depths and an appealing earnestness that makes him likable in spite of himself.
The book is relaxed and meandering. It's not driven by urgent plot or action, but by Francesca’s choices, relationships, and internal journey. It’s slow in places, certainly, but it’s a thoughtful pace—not a dull one. It’s certainly also a bit preachy, but that’s true to the tone of the time in question: a time period bubbling over with increased social awareness, new environmental and cultural activism, and questioning of established assumptions. All in all, SOME GREATER AWAKENING is a satisfying read that will appeal particularly to readers who enjoy getting an intimate, up-close and personal view of a character’s emotional journey.
In SOME GREATER AWAKENING, Jessica Abbe offers readers a tender, thoughtful story about a young woman’s self-discovery as she moves into full adulthood.
~ Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader