Piano Tide

by Kathleen Dean Moore

Do we belong to the Earth or does the Earth belong to us? The question raised by Chief Seathl almost two centuries ago continues to be the defining quandary of the wet, wild rainforests along the shores of the Pacific Northwest. It seethes below the tides of the fictional town of Good River Harbor, a little village pressed against the mountains—homeland to bears, whales, and a few weather-worn families.

In Piano Tide , the debut novel by award-winning naturalist, philosopher, activist and author Kathleen Dean Moore, we are introduced to town father Axel Hagerman, who has made a killing in this remote Alaskan harbor by selling off the spruce, the cedar, the herring and halibut. But when he decides to export the water from a salmon stream, he runs head-long into young Nora Montgomery, just arrived on the ferry with her piano and her dog. Nora has burned her bridges in the lower 48, and she aims to disappear into this new homeland, with her piano as her anchor. But when Axel’s next business proposition, a bear pit, turns lethal, Nora has to act. The clash, when it comes, is a spectacular and transformative act of resistance.

Genres: Fiction, Nature, Book Club

240 pages, Hardcover

First published November 21, 2016

About the author

Environmental philosopher Kathleen Dean Moore writes about moral, spiritual, and cultural relationships to the natural world. In 2000 she founded the Spring Creek Project at Oregon State, which brings together the practical wisdom of the environmental sciences, the clarity of philosophy, and the emotive power of the written word to re-imagine humankind’s relation to the natural world. In addition to her philosophical writing for professional journals, Moore is the author of several books of nature essays, including Wild Comfort: The Solace of Nature; Riverwalking; and The Pine Island Paradox, winner of the Oregon Book Award.

A graduate of Wooster College (1969), Moore earned her M.A. (1972) and Ph.D. (1977) from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in the philosophy of law, with a focus on the nature of forgiveness and reconciliation. At Oregon State, she teaches environmental ethics, the philosophy of nature, and a variety of courses for OSU’s new master’s program in environmental leadership. She is also co-author of a new Environmental Humanities Initiative, which integrates science and humanities to provide leadership for complex times.

Reviews

[Diamond Cowboy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really good. It is concerning many different people in Alaska. They are all trying to make it. It is a book of second chances, prejudism and friendship. I highly recommend it.

[KC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having 2 kids live in the Pacific Northwest, I was hoping that this novel would catapult me into the areas rich environment. Although the book succeeded in doing so with astonishing description in and around the forests, coasts, rivers and mountains, the story fell short for me.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have long been a fan of Moore’s nature writing, so when she published a novel, I had to read it. I stumbled over the first page, heavily loaded with description. I struggled to picture Good River Harbor, a fictional town on the Southeast Alaska coast where the buildings are all on stilts so as not to get washed away when the tide comes in. But then the people and the story grabbed me. Each character is special in his or her own way: Tick, the red-bearded giant who tries so hard but keeps getting fired by Axel, the self-centered entrepreneur who runs the town; his earnest son Davy who loves Axel’s daughter Meredith; wheelchair bound philosophy-spouting crazy Kenny with his beard divided into braids; Lillian, the former hooker who runs the “bar and bath,” and Nora, who has just come to town with a piano that can only be moved to her cabin on the high tide—the piano tide. But why bother? She doesn’t seem to play very well. And what is Nora running away from? The plot revolves around Axel’s plans to use up every natural resource to make money and the efforts of the people to save the trees, the salmon, and their way of life. Nature plays a heavy role in the midst of cash-seeking cruelty and ecoterrorism. The suspense continues to the last line of the last page. The writing is achingly beautiful, and Moore, a nonfiction master, has proven she can do fiction, too.

[Sarah Trask · Rating 1 out of 5]

While the language is quite lovely, I find the characters neither intriguing, colorful nor nuanced. I wanted to like the book, but I struggled with it, because I felt the author essentialized certain types of people in the community, painting identities and characters' motives with broad strokes.

Although I admire the intended environmental message, I feel that it does a disservice to the cause, because the book oversimplifies a complex issue. The story is told from the perspective of young, white heroine, who comes to save the community after being there for one week. The book vilifies 'bad' people who use resources. This might feel good and be popular among outsider environmentalists, but if people love nature, they should deal with their own consumption, avoid travel and deal with problems in their own neck of the woods.

If you are the kind of person who would like to read a story in a lovely setting with beautiful descriptions of the surroundings, and are not bothered by an over-simplified, self-satisfied take on natural resource usage, then you will love this book. I AM an environmentalist, but I am from a village in southeast Alaska, and bristle at the the way the characters and the tough issues are portrayed.

[Matt Grudzinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

KDM did a fantastic job bringing you to Good River Harbor with her descriptive writing, from the mountains and trees above to the docks below. The people in town were not complex in their motives, however an entertaining story at the very least. Axel may be a one dimensional villain but we tend to see a lot of those in our current times

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was very hard for me to give this book only 2 stars because I really tried / wanted to like it. But I guess it was truly harder to like it because I couldn’t fathom giving it a good review.

[Harriett Milnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 2016, Piano Tide is a novel set in a fictional coastline town in Alaska. Interesting characters.

[P Teall Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the characters and their voices. Unpredictable, unusual, clear and lovely writing.

[Barbara Rhine · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Piano Tide" is set in the far reaching wilds of Alaska, in a small town at the mercy of the tides, reachable only by boat, with a cast of inhabitants who know each other all too well. A woman shows up with a piano, and needs help hauling it into a house on the edge of town. And thus the action starts in this startling tale of interconnection of humans and nature, involving salmon, bears, humpback and grey whales, crabs, oysters and so much more. It turns out the author is the same woman who wrote "Riverwalking," also reviewed by me and given five stars here in Goodreads. "Riverwalking," nonfiction essays, was written in 2003; "Piano Tide," fiction, comes along in 2016! It's rare that one person can write so convincingly in both genres at all, let alone capture the essence of the more-than-human world in two totally different environments of this wild world we inhabit. I loved this book! it made me feel as if indeed I were very far distant from my own city life. And it also included a larger story of good values in the face of the environmental challenges faced by our own human species. Read it! It's hard to imagine that you won't like it!

[Cascade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a brilliant book! Especially recommended for anyone with ties to SE AK or that wants to be transported there. I loved the sense of place and characters, with just the right amount of suspense.

[Matthew Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This debut novel by Kathleen Dean Moore is a captivating story populated by an assortment of intriguing and likeable characters. In many respects the town of Good River Harbor feels like it is itself the main character of this novel. The descriptions of the town are vivid and visceral. One can easily picture it as a living and breathing entity, the tide waters constantly receding and expanding like it’s lungs, perpetually altering the landscape. Many of the characters are endearing and quirky as well, in some respects functioning as archetypes of what you might find in a small Alaskan town, where the dependency on natural resources is both a curse and a blessing. The main flaw for me was that Nora was the most underdeveloped character. As the “outsider” who comes to town and functions as a catalyst to re-examine it’s economic and social structure it was surprising that she was in the background for much of the book. Despite this, overall it was a lively and engaging novel that transported me to a town on the edge of the Alaskan wilderness that felt like a real and breathing place, filled with very believable connections and tensions.

[Luanne Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Everything a man makes starts falling apart as soon as he pounds the last nail. That’s the difference between Father Time and Mother Nature: He knocks things down, she grows things up.” The language was 4 star worthy, but the characters were two dimensional and the plot a little strained. Rather than try to make it into an eco/thriller I would have rather had her fully develop these potentially wonderful characters and their little Alaskan harbor town. The descriptive language of the natural settings was superb; it’s obvious that is where Moore’s passion lies. I had to look up quite a few words, but it wasn’t pretentious or annoying—just interesting.

[Esther Bos · Rating 2 out of 5]

The characters are interesting, the setting is unusual and unknown to me (SE Alaska coastal town), and the author obviously has a wonderful love for nature. But I felt like the characters were too sketchy, the town and surroundings were hard to visualize, and the environmental message was too central for me to fully enjoy this book. My husband liked it better than I did, though, and so did a lot of other reviewers. I may try it again, knowing the details, so I can get a better feel for the book as a whole. Contains beautiful descriptions of the natural environment that were a pleasure to read, but I felt like they took away from the plot and character development.

[Valerie Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moore writes with so much love for the earth, for nature. Her style is lyrical, she has a musician's ear and a wild beating heart. I've read nature essays by her, but this time around, I really enjoyed the marrying of nature with humanity, with characters living on, with, beside the land. The place and characters had just the right touch of quirkiness. I liked, too, how she juxtaposed environmentalism with the human need for home, for sustenance, for work; how she explored the idea of living well on the land without taking everything the land has to offer, living in balance, how tangled up it is, how difficult it can be, but how necessary.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“A whale folded its back, slowly unfolded, and levered its flukes into the air. The tail stood like a black jib, streaming water, then sank as the whale dove to a seam below the reach of the sun. Water slipped into the space the whale had pressed on the sea. One by one, other whales raised their flukes and dove. The gulls, still silent, waited still. They knew that in their own time, the whales would begin the hunt again. The water rose and fell in meditative breath.”

This novel was just so beautiful. From describing the scenery of Alaska and the fictional Good River Harbour to its people... I just adored all the characters and community. Beautiful read!

[Pamela Okano · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an eco-novel based in a SE Alaska village. Tick is a big, burly guy caring for his two young boys,while his wife works in Seattle so that the family can make ends meet. Lillian runs the local bar/laundry/public shower. Nora is a mysterious newcomer who plays a piano, seemingly not very well. Kenny, wheel-chair bound, fashions hats from squirrel and rat hides and screams at tourists. Axel is the town entrepreneur who thinks nothing of using an abandoned cistern to stage an admission-only grizzly bear exhibit. These quirky characters face a common problem nowadays in rural America--the conflict between development and conservation. A very readable and enjoyable read.

[Andy Lillich · Rating 3 out of 5]

This should be 3 and a half stars, really. Its characters and writing are worthy of 5, but - it needed a better editor to fulfill its promise. Some of it is over-written and the ending is not entirely satisfying.

If you like a really good - but imperfect - novel of the Northwest, especially as it is lived in a small coastal town, I think you will like it, despite its flaws. And like me, you may wish it could have been just a LITTLE bit better.

[John Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel takes place in the small fictional hamlet of Good River Harbor in Southeastern Alaska. The small place is filled with many eccentric people who in many ways feel controlled by a man named Alex Hagerman, who develops project that employ the residents but wreak havoc on the environment. Eventually, the residents begin to rebel and work at sabotaging his latest project. A great book set in an interesting locale, with eccentric characters and a good plot.

[Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the sense of place, the quirky characters, the ways of thinking about our relationship to nature, the story tying together these varied people with a range of views in their unusual place, and the sentences themselves. The descriptions of nature in this book are stunning. I took forever reading this (not because I wasn't enjoying it), and I'll be sad not to visit Good River Harbor anymore now that I've finally finished.

[Beth Filar Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore Moore's nonfiction writing but I couldn't quite give it five stars. it seemed like it needs a little more editor support perhaps... most characters were well developed but the main character, Nora was still not quite there for me. I love the environmental theme, the beauty that was described of the area, the uniqueness of Southeast Alaska. I look forward to more attempts in fiction by more!

[Carl · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is our town's 2019 Community Read book. I read the first two chapters and just couldn't stomach the dopiness of the plot, the absurdity of the scenes, and the one-dimensional characters. This is a polemic disguised as a novel. The author should stick to essays and editorials and leave fiction to qualified writers.

[Marilyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

A naturalist conservationist with a past comes to small town Good River Harbor, Alaska, and clashes with the most powerful man in town--who will sell off an natural resource that can give him a profit. The plot should have been good. Out of generosity, I will just say I did not enjoy the book, the writing, or the characters. Had it not been a book club selection, I'd not have finished it.

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a community read. When I first started it, I didn't know whether to continue or not but as I read on, it grabbed me and I was hooked. The writer is quite good. I liked her characters and the Alaska setting (I lived in AK for 35+ years), plus the themes she was writing about - environment, equality - both gender and financial, etc. I would recommend this book to everyone.

[Jim Corson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathleen Moore is a nature writer and this is her first book of fiction. Her descriptions of Southeast Alaska were, I thought, stunning. Having kayaked much of South East Alaska, the town described reminded me of both Elfin Cove and Pelican, both built on pilings at the edges of steep mountains.
I highly recommend this as a Good Read, often funny, quirky, but always engrossing.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

KDM is one of my favorite authors. Because she usually writes nonfiction and is so passionate about environmentalism, I worried that this would be a "message" novel -- but it wasn't, or maybe only a little. It's warm, with engaging characters, while at the same time not shying away from conflicts and difficult realities. I really enjoyed it.

[Annette Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some gorgeous writing about the natural world. And, characters I wanted to read about. I adored Kenny. He was my favorite.

But, this book needed a better editor. Waaaaaaay too much descriptive writing and not enough dialogue. And, that’s coming from someone who LOVES descriptive writing. Especially about nature. And, the climax and resolution can’t wait until the last 3 pages. Oof. And, not a very satisfying ending. I needed more.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a nice combination of nature writing and story telling. I really came to like and care about the town and characters that the author created. Good story, with the author's love of nature evident throughout. An interesting and entertaining read.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give this four stars for its masterful use of language but the matter of making the many characters more readily identifiable lowered my enjoyment of this otherwise wonderful book. I want to,read more of this environmentally concerned author.

[Josephine Ensign · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found parts of this book interesting—mainly the descriptions of "made up but based on real" places and people in Alaska. While I appreciated the author's attempt to weave in a strong environmental message and depict characters with opposing viewpoints, it felt clunky and contrived.

[Mike Dettinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really beautiful novel of SE Alaska. The story sucks you in, but it’s the characters you will stay for and remember with love. So real, so wise, so flawed. And the language is beautiful without being florid. It just begged to be read aloud to someone you love.