The Forest House

December 15, 2012
Fraser (The Territory of Men, 2002) soulfully evokes the year she spent in an isolated forest retreat recovering from the trauma of divorce and exploring the inner landscape of her heart. When the author divorced her husband, the emotional fallout left her devastated. Not only was she unprepared for how joint custody would redefine her relationship to her young son Dylan, but she was also unprepared for the wave of "crippling guilt of being the one who left." To maintain her privacy in the conservative California mountain town where they lived and ensure Dylan had access to his father, Fraser quietly moved into a tiny, one-bedroom house on the edge of a nearby forest. In this lonely but beautiful setting, Fraser began to examine her life. She thought about her Swedish great-grandmother, who was forced to leave her six children behind and follow a fugitive husband to America, where the two divorced. She eventually reunited with some of her children, but for the rest of her life, she worked "like a slave" in a land far from home. From this extraordinary woman, Fraser came to understand that survival meant "setting a course" for herself and making peace with her choices. She accepted the financial challenges of being a single parent with a low-paying job and found renewed joy in the companionship of her dog and cats. As she learned to appreciate the natural world around her, Fraser came to value both her freedom and the pain that had come along with it. Her injuries, like those done to the great scarred trees around her, were actually a testament to the hidden beauty of life itself--and to the choice to either live in fear or "look for [the] gifts" in every experience, no matter how painful. A poignant study of gratitude for the simple life.

COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 15, 2013
While struggling with divorce and the realities of a joint-custody agreement, Fraser moved with her son to a small forest house outside of their California mountain town. Framed around the seasons of the year and dipping into Rick Basslike meditations on nature and weather, Fraser's memoir recounts a journey of small steps forward on the search for a new self. She seeks guidance from a litany of voices, quoting Patricia Hampl and Anne Lamott, among many others, while contemplating choices made by her parents in their failed marriage, and rescuing wayward animals in search of safe harbor. Her poignant, heartbreaking struggle to find her way in a life she never planned to be living transcends her personal story to encompass all who find themselves at unexpected, and often lonely, crossroads. Fraser decided to write her way through this period, creating quiet, nature-oriented reflections that transcend the typical divorce memoir. Fraser's thoughtful, sincere, and generous chronicle will especially appeal to newly single parents seeking solace from the storm.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)