PLAYING WITH WILDFIRE

Pritchett’s novel details the effects of wildfire on a Colorado community.

Early on, a woman named Gretel—the closest thing to a central character you’ll find here—explains her situation: “I live on the evacuation perimeter of what is now Colorado’s largest wildfire, which has been burning for months.” That she does so as part of a grant application—the text of which is one of several found documents included in the book—is an early indication that this novel isn’t a simple narrative of humanity at the mercy of a changing climate. Later, Pritchett includes the text of a short play, and a host of nonhuman voices also show up, including a raven whose mind is also on the effects of the fire: “Hunker, pant, rest, cat darts by, bear gimps by, one paw burned.” The human characters have a fraught relationship with nature; the wildfire originated from a camper neglecting to extinguish a campfire, and an early scene details a deer being struck and killed by a pickup. Gretel is suffering from chronic health issues exacerbated by Covid-19. Pritchett also alludes to political divisions within the community: “Before that, someone stole her BLM sign. Which she had to explain to her neighbor didn’t stand for the Bureau of Land Management.” Pritchett finds unexpected moments of grace, whether from a smokejumper’s routine (“Float. Hands on steering guides, I tug on the left as the jump spot nears”) or through one middle-aged man’s penchant for the guitar (“Yeah, there is still a jelly jar of whiskey. There will always be a jelly jar. But there will be two jelly jars fewer because of the guitar”). It’s an unorthodox but effective way of illustrating the small-scale effects of environmental devastation.

An immersive story of a changing landscape, innovatively told.