A Land Without Sin: A Novel
Eva Kovic is a war photographer whose brother Stefan, a priest, has disappeared amid revolutionary unrest in southern Mexico in 1993. She goes to find him but hides her mission by taking a job as a photographer with a Dutch archeologist who specializes in the Maya. Both Eva and the Mayanist are not what they seem, and their stories unroll in Central American jungles, crossing time and continents as Eva's family history and the archeologist's wife become key parts of the narrative tapestry. Eva is a hard case, slow to reveal anything but toughness; her absent brother is present in the narrative through his letters that Eva reads, so the emotional foothold offered readers is small at first. But the story deepens slowly, and its themes of war and family are profound and insistent, with tenacious hope eventually gaining a foothold. Huston (Daughters of Song) reels the reader in slowly, with subtle characterization and small clues planted early. A wonderful book for church book clubs; Huston takes God, the burden of history, and religion's big questions seriously. (Aug.)  Graphic the ValleyPeter Brown HoffmeisterTyrus (F+W Media, dist.), $24.95 (272p) ISBN 978-1-4405-6203-7A couple illegally inhabits the Yosemite valley in camps and debri shelters, bearing and raising a child who grows to be a new type of Native American in Hoffmeister's debut novel. At the age of 19, Tenaya has never left Yosemite. He was born in a car and brought straight to the valley, educated with stories from books and his father's mythical-sounding memory. He learns how to survive in the wilderness with nothing but himself. But when he takes a job clearing slash off the Tioga Road and meets Lucy, a secret relationship blossoms which leads to pregnancy and a controversial public engagement. The couple's dreams turn sour as both families manipulate the young bride and groom during marriage ceremonies to embarrass the other side, escalating towards violence and ending in tragedy. Tenaya is left with the responsibility of protecting his beloved valley, where construction and contracts are moving in to create a theme park and destroy his home. With refreshingly fundamental first person narration and unusual character development, stripped in knowledge and language of anything but the necessary, each page of this novel is illuminates its reader's imagination with both tenacity and innocence. (June)