My Abandonment: A Novel

by Peter Rock

Overview

NOW A MAJOR FILM, LEAVE NO TRACE. Inspired by a true story, a riveting and unsettling novel about a girl and her father who live off the grid, in the shadows at the edge of civilization.

Thirteen-year-old Caroline and her father live in Forest Park, an enormous nature preserve in Portland, Oregon. They inhabit an elaborate cave shelter, wash in a nearby creek, store perishables at the water’s edge, use a makeshift septic system, tend a garden, even keep a library of sorts.

Once a week they go to the city to buy groceries and otherwise merge with the civilized world. But one small mistake allows a backcountry jogger to discover them, which derails their entire existence, ultimately provoking a deeper flight.

Told through the startlingly sincere voice of its young narrator, My Abandonment is a riveting journey into life at the margins and a mesmerizing tale of survival and hope.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547488646
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/16/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	241
Sales rank:	255,355
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

PETER ROCK is the author of several novels, including My Abandonment, and a collection of stories, The Unsettling. He teaches writing at Reed College. 

Editorial Reviews

The engaging but limited perspective of 13-year-old Caroline, "the hillbilly girl that lived in the park," reveals a highly circumscribed world. When first met, Caroline and Father are scavenging for materials to make a shelter in the "forest park" outside of Portland, Ore., where they seem to be hiding out. They make cautious trips into the city to the supermarket and the library, but a lapse by Caroline brings police attention, and they are taken into custody. Jean Bauer, whose profession is unclear, helps Father secure employment and brings pots and pans and school clothes for Caroline. Who are these two? Caroline walks "past posters with my face on them, my old name, and no one sees me." Father says: "If I weren't your father... how could I have walked right into your backyard and walked away with you and no one said a word?" This is a tale of survival, of love and attachment, of mystery and alienation. It is an utterly entrancing book, a bow to Thoreau and a nod to the detective story. Every step of this narrative, despite providing more questions than answers, rings true. (Mar.)

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Publishers Weekly

Rock's fifth novel (after The Bewildered) is narrated by 13-year-old Caroline, who lives in a woodsy area near Portland, OR, with her father, not in a tidy suburban neighborhood but in a cave. They visit the city periodically, carefully dressed in city clothes so as not to attract attention, where Father picks up his government checks "for being in a war." It's up to Caroline to calm her father during his frequent nightmares about helicopters swarming and rattling the night. Their unconventional life changes suddenly when the authorities swoop in to take charge of Caroline and her father and send them to a farm where Father is put to work. Even though Caroline is content with the routine and their small but clean living quarters, Father still can't tolerate being confined, and they escape back into the woods only to meet tragedy again. The novel has many uneasy moments and allusions to stories left untold in Caroline's life, but Rock's insight into his characters' worries and hopes propels the story to its emotional conclusion. A compelling read; recommended for all fiction collections.
—Donna Bettencourt

Library Journal