Passions collide in Andrea Wright’s new novel
By Contributor
When the town of Greenstone, Montana is thrown into chaos by a planned dam expansion, people from the United States and Canada form a cross-border alliance to save Sweet Grass Valley from flooding.
Conflict erupts as passions collide. The complex relationship between people and nature provides a springboard for an intimate story of power by Kootenay author Andrea Wright. Wright reads from her novel Greenstone Rising on Thursday, August 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Nelson Public Library.
Anyone who lived through or who understands the impact of hydroelectric dam development in the Columbia Basin will find resonance in Wright’s novel, which brings to life the human aspect of progress and power.
Characters include wise woman Stella and her daughter Aberdeen, dynamic Canadian activist Elliot and his flamboyant partner Gitta, wildlife biologist Lawrence, and Harold Clay Harding, paramilitary ex-con, who schemes his way to power.
“Greenstone Rising manages to stir into a tantalizing narrative broth all the interests close to the author’s heart, not the least of which is her deep commitment to the environment,” said reviewer Art Joyce in the Valley Voice.
“Many who have been activists will be able to relate personally to the central plot, but even those with little interest in activism will find the characters carry them along above the action.”
Food is also a character
in Wright’s novel, bringing people together. Recipes included in the back of the book are a nod to Wright’s other passion: she ran the Wild Rose Restaurant in Rosebery for 20 years, while raising her two daughters.
A lifelong resident of the Columbia Basin, Andrea Wright grew up in rural Oregon, lived in Montana, before settling in the wilds of British Columbia.
