My Abandonment - by Peter Rock (Paperback)

About the Book

A riveting and unsettling novel about a girl and her father who live off the grid, in the shadows at the edge of civilization Athirteen-year-old girl and her father live in Forest Park, the 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, attend church, 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.
In the tradition of Jon Krakauer's Into theWild and Elizabeth Gilbert's Last American Man, Peter Rock's My Abandonment, inspired by a true story and told through the startlingly sincere voice of his young protagonist, Caroline, is an eerie and mesmerizing book of survival and hope, and a completely original novel of a remarkable and triumphant transformation.

Book Synopsis

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.

From the Back Cover

Praise for MY ABANDONMENT: "This beautiful, strange novel takes us into the foreign country where those called homeless are at home, the city is wilderness, and the greater wilderness lies beyond.Fascinating and moving, it tells with great tenderness how human love goes wrong."-- Ursula Le Guin"Peter Rock's My Abandonment is an electrically charged, bone-deep and tender tale of loss and partial redemption. Surreal, haunting, elegiac." -- James Ellroy

"My Abandonment is purely dazzling, alive in every word and scene, so deep and strange in its rendering of this one young woman's life that I could hardly raise my eyes from the page."--Andrea Barrett

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Review Quotes

ADVANCE PRAISE FORMY ABANDONMENT "Peter Rock's My Abandonment is an electrically charged, bone-deep and tender tale of loss and partial redemption. Surreal, haunting, elegiac." --James Ellroy "This beautiful, strange novel takes us into the foreign country where those called homeless are at home, the city is wilderness, and the greater wilderness lies beyond. Fascinating and moving, it tells with great tenderness how human love goes wrong."--Ursula K. Le Guin --

About the Author

Peter Rock is the author of four previous novels, most recently The Bewildered, and a collection of stories, The Unsettling. He teaches writing at Reed College.