A very calming recount of a lifestyle that has continued to die out as the years go by. A Place in the Woods tells the true story of Helen and Adrian Hoover as they leave their residence in Chicago to enjoy a life in the wilderness next to Lake Superior, just after the midpoint of the 1960s.
Despite being non-fiction, Hoover’s work carries all the good traits of meaningful fiction. I, myself, initially took it to be a fictional story that was conjured up by the author’s imagination, but eventually realised it was thoughtfully extracted and delicately pieced together from memory.
Although it reads like fiction, being based in reality does result in a rather straightforward story. Spanning roughly a year or more, the meat of the story comes from witnessing the Hoovers adapt to their surroundings, make new companions, deal with dwindling funds and spontaneous hardships. The essence and motivation of reading is to observe these changes in the Hoovers’ attitudes and efforts, slowly being able to call their clearing in the forest ‘home’.
What really makes Hoover’s recounting of events so amazing is her tender, yet mature, manner of describing each facet of their new surroundings. Whether the landscape and dense forest, the volatile and unrelenting weather, or the various animals that co-exist with the Hoovers — readers are treated to layers upon layers of beautiful language that conveys each detail perfectly. Hoover is particularly talented in avoiding the pitfalls of being long-winded or pretentious in tone, reinforcing her great love and admiration for the nature that surrounds her as she typed up the story.
Naturally, being so festooned with Hoover’s clear enjoyment of their choice to leave Chicago does make it clear that the couple ultimately end up happy. However, this does not spoil the story, as it successfully balances a blend of cosiness, hardship, and tinges of bittersweetness (especially as Hoover recounts about family and the many animals the couple befriended and lost). It’s more about enjoying the ride than the thrill of the ending, after all, this isn’t fiction!
Even though A Place in the Woods did take me a while to finish reading, I strongly recommend it. It’s a mostly placid tale, to say the least; slow and meaningful, with sudden peaks of stress to highlight the lack of predictability when living in the wilderness. A great piece of literary work, that, even if not profoundly deep, is adorned with love from its now deceased author.
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