Subduction [J0289]

2020 PB in Gift-Worthy condition. In this commanding novel, Kristen Millares Young captures the brutality of an anthropological gaze upon a Makah community. Her complex, exquisitely shaped characters embody the calamity of intrusion and the beauty of resilience. Young beautifully and vividly renders the Pacific Northwest, particularly the unique world of Neah Bay. Subduction is at once a thought-provoking meditation on the geography and geology of the natural world and a generous exploration of the natural shifts and movements that shape her characters. Fleeing the shattered remains of her marriage and a betrayal by her sister, in the throes of a midlife freefall, Latina anthropologist Claudia retreats from Seattle to Neah Bay, a Native American whaling village on the jagged Pacific coast. Claudia yearns to lose herself to the songs of the tribe and the secrets of her guide, a spirited hoarder named Maggie. But when, spurred by his mother's failing memory, Maggie's prodigal son Peter returns seeking answers to his father's murder, Claudia discovers in him the abandon she craves. Through the passionate and violent collision of these two outsiders, Subduction portrays not only their strange allegiance after grievous losses but also their imperfect attempts to find community on the Makah Indian Reservation.

From recent-ish Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "There is a lot to like in this book: the protagonist's deep interest in and respect for a culture very different from her own (and mine!), evocative writing about the often shrouded beauty of the remote tip of the Olympic Peninsula."; "This is a novel that feeds both the body and the mind as it creates new hungers. Nothing comes easy in this narrative except for the beautiful writing itself."; "Subduction is a beautifully written exploration of complex relationships, cultural history, and personal healing. The story centers around Claudia, a Latina anthropologist, as she interviews Maggie, a Makah elder, while navigating her own troubled past. Peter, Maggie's estranged son and a welder, returns to Neah Bay in hopes of mending his fractured relationship with his mother."