Author: George Handley
Title: American Fork
Roundfire Books, 2018
Reviewed by Nora Ray, Dec. 18, 2018
This book actually contains 3 stories merged delicately in to one. The first story is that of a brilliant but independent, elderly but active botanist with a troubled past. Living in ‘Mormon country’ his whole life, he at one point tried to live according to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ religious principles. A personal tragedy leaves him without faith in any kind of deity, and the world of nature takes that place in his life.
Deciding to write a book on Utah mountain wildflowers, he employs a talented young artist named Alba to illustrate it. Alba’s is the second story. Her history as a Chilean immigrant to Utah and her strong faith in the Church’s religious doctrine act as a foil to Zachariah the botantist’s bitterness and cynicism. Having long desired to understand more about her family’s Chilean past, she determines to visit her birthplace and resolve the mysteries her mother is unwilling to discuss.
Both tales hold the reader’s interest in a firm grip and both are resolved in a realistic manner. If they were all this book was about, it would still be a good book. There is a third story however and it is one that affects all of us, not just the characters in the book. It is the story of our world and our responsibilty to it. The language is often a bit flowery (ouch) for my taste, but through the discussions between Zacharias and Alba we are shown that our effect on this world, whether we believe it was divinely created on not, makes us the real creators of it. We are reminded that our stewardship is real and our choices are even now creating the world that our descendants will inherit.
This is the kind of book one would do well to read and then read again. The nuances in the discussions between the artist and the scientist are worth pondering especially in the light of current United States and World policies. 5 stars.