The world beneath
By: Cate Kennedy
Publisher: Black Cat; Distributed by Publishers Group West
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New York; [Berkeley, Calif.]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 342
ISBN-13: 9780802170712
Subjects: Fathers and daughters; Backpacking; Dysfunctional families; Middle age; Rain forests; Divorced parents; Fiction
Description: Rich and Sandy were once environmental activists, part of a world-famous blockade in Tasmania to save the wilderness. Now, twenty-five years later, they have both settled into the uncomfortable compromises of middle age, although they've gone about it in very different ways. About the only thing they have in common these days is their fifteen-year-old daughter, Sophie. When Rich decides to take Sophie, whom he hardly knows, on a trek into the Tasmanian wilderness, his overconfidence and her growing disillusion with him set off a chain of events that no one could have predicted. Instead of respect, Rich finds antagonism in his relationship with Sophie; and in the vast landscape he once felt an affinity with, he encounters nothing but disorientation and fear. Ultimately, all three characters will learn that if they are to survive, each must traverse not only the secret territories that lie between them but also those within themselves.
Notes: Includes a discussion guide for your reading group.