Ground Truth: A Geological Survey of a Life

by Ruby McConnell

The cataclysmic eruption of Mt. St. Helens in May, 1980 marked the start of a decades-long struggle over resources, land-use, and economics that would leave the Pacific Northwest forever changed. Beginning at that pivotal moment and written with the critical eye of a seasoned earth scientist, Ground Truth is an extended eulogy to a rapidly changing land and population awakening to the realities of climate change, land-use, and pollution. Part natural history, part memoir-in-essays, Ground Truth is a moving portrait of the forces and landscapes that have shaped a region and the people who live there. In McConnell’s complex, brutal, and beautiful Northwest, geology frequently comes to bear upon human lives, challenging notions of the region as a wild, untouched, and abundant landscape and forcing us to see ourselves as subject to these same processes.



The book illuminates the central role of landscapes in our ideas of home and self despite the growing disconnect between modern lifestyle and the environment. Written with a scientifically-driven female voice, McConnell’s timely and significant work reveals how the landscapes we inhabit can also help us better understand ourselves and our relationship to the ground beneath our feet.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Science, Geology

212 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 14, 2020

About the author

Ruby McConnell is a writer, geologist, and adventuress whose work focuses on nature, the environment, and the relationship between landscape and the human experience. Her experiences as a researcher, activist, and explorer in the wildlands of the western United States led her write A Woman’s Guide to the Wild- the definitive outdoor guide for anyone who identifies as, or loves, women (or just wants to learn how to read a map) and its companion, A Girl’s Guide to the Wild (spring 2019). Ruby believes that positive outdoor experiences are the key to healthy living and protecting the environment and is committed to breaking down barriers that prevent all kinds of people from being outside. Her writing has appeared in publications such as Grain Literary Journal, Oregon Humanities Magazine, and Mother Earth News and was awarded an Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship in 2016. She is almost always in the woods of the Pacific Northwest, but you can find her online at www.rubymcconnell.com and @RubyGoneWild.

Reviews

[Liz Prato · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books whose release got buried in the early days of the pandemic, and it's a real shame. It's really an important and beautiful collection. Ruby McConnell blends her extraordinary academic knowledge of the natural world with a deep love for place. A yearning exists in each of these essays, with Mount St. Helens providing the reality and metaphor for what we've lost and what remains. Ground Truth is part memoir, part ecological manifesto, and one big love letter for our planet.

[Greg Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exceptional, and thoughtful, gathering of essays that does a great job of binding the geographic and socioeconomic evolution of the Pacific Northwest to one witness's story.

It is a must-read for all who love the Pacific Northwest and/or the writings of Edward Abbey.

[Mackenzie Aamodt · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I were to ever write a book, it would be one like this. Highly recommend!

[Kate Belt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The language is beautiful, as are the environments and geological history she describes. I stumbled a lot over the scientific terms used, skipping over some of it, but most of of McConnell's storytelling is very relatable. There's the story of the child she found lost in the forest, and when she walked him back to the lobby of where she was staying, discovered the front desk had no emergency numbers, no plan to deal with emergencies. She was in a part of Oregon where the folks mistrust government and want nothing to do with law enforcement. Then there's an entire chapter devoted to the role rabbits, native in all parts of the world except Antartica, play in our culture. Think of all our stories, from mythology to The Velveteen Bunny to the March Hare in Alice. And there's the story about building houses on sand in Rockport and the riprock. Then, what a Section/Chapter Heading: What The Ocean Takes: The Ocean is a Treacherous Wonder. In the chapter titled Scablands - Love and The Missoula Floods, I've never read such a lyrical and metaphorical account of falling in love, well maybe from Brian Doyle, but this one blew me away.

[Jennifer Ladwig]

Having grown up just 10 minutes away from the Cape Horn trail Ruby returns to again and again throughout this book, I adored learning both scientific and historical details about the place I call home. However, this book is so much more than a collection of facts. Ruby masterfully connects her experiences sifting through rocks and history to her life as a daughter, a wife, a sister, a writer, and a geologist. On multiple occasions, I found myself reading sections of this book out loud to my parents, or retelling the essays while on walks around our beautiful Gorge home. And not only does this book take on interpersonal relationships and the nature of our emotions, it also tackles larger topics like climate change throughout the essays, most obviously in pieces like "Castles Made of Sand," discussing the effects rising sea levels had on an elderly couple's Rockaway Beach home. I highly recommend this book to those of us who are, at our hearts, not only scientists but also activists and humanists.

[Erica Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruby McConnell is both a scientist and a writer, and the dual parts of her identity come together so naturally in this book. She beautifully depicts the Pacific Northwest and her experiences and memories of living there, but she also digs deeply into the geological and social history of it, acknowledging at the outset of the book that it is a landscape that has been impacted by the trauma of colonization and genocide. I thought she did an incredible job blending art and memory with science and history. Who knew geology could be so captivating? Reading this has made me curious to learn more about the places I come from and to interrogate my own connections to that land.

There is also an important thread of activism that runs through her essays: a call for us to remember our place as stewards of the earth and to take better care of it. This is a must-read for all PNW-dwellers!

[Carmel Breathnach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Siobhán (Ruby) McConnell's essays are entertaining, moving and educational. She knows so much about Oregon's geography, and that of the PNW and beyond. Readers learn about Mt. St. Helen's, Oregon's coastal flooding, the history of the beautiful Columbia River Gorge and more. Her chapter titled No Men, No Gun made me laugh out loud. The View From Council Crest had me close to weeping.

An award-winning author, Ruby is smart as heck, warm, thoughtful, caring and funny and all of this comes through in Ground Truth. I'm sitting at our kitchen table in Ireland with my hot cup of tea and I'm taking a moment to ponder this beautifully written work.

[Kristi White · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book. McConnell tapped into deep wells of nostalgia for this native Northwesterner with her vividly painted stories of that which is precious to our unique way of life - towering fir trees, bountiful salmon, breathtaking waterfalls of the Gorge, and volcanoes we know so personally. Her writing is poetic, inviting, and informative.

[Kristi Bontrager · Rating 4 out of 5]

In her new book “Ground Truth: A Geological Survey of a Life,” Ruby McConnell takes us back to a date seared in the memory of many Pacific Northwesterners - Sunday, May 18, 1980 - the day Mount St. Helens erupted. McConnell was only a toddler at the time in Seattle, but this cataclysmic event set her career path in science. From early interactions with schoolmates, McConnell understands that she views the natural world differently and that difference fuels her desire to share her vision. Ground Truth is an environmental science book wrapped up in a memoir. McConnell effortlessly shifts between a scientific explanation of data and theory and her personal story and development.

McConnell’s writing is clear, descriptive and lyrical. For those who have never visited the Pacific Northwest, maybe only have seen pictures, McConnell gives us the ground truth - “the process of going back and verifying observations and accounts made over distance and time in the field.” You feel the desolation of the strange landscape of Christmas Valley, Oregon, when she and her fellow graduate students attempt the difficult task of mapping its features. It is “an easy place to get lost, the vastness of absence reaches out in all directions, leaving few landmarks with which to orient oneself.” She shares the heartbreak and hopelessness she feels as she works with nervous homeowners whose oceanside property is being slowly eroded away or when she visits a research forest on a steep and craggy mountain engulfed in the roar of chainsaws and surrounded by clear cut acres.

This is a fascinating read for those who wouldn’t pick up a “science” book; her personal stories bring a universal insight. And for those who turn away from memoir as being too “navel-gazing,” McConnell grounds her insights in the real understanding of the physical world. As McConnell gains the perspective of time not afforded to the young idealists, she comes to a hopeful understanding of her life, her work and the natural world we call home.

[Jaiden · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Mconnell’s novel the Earth becomes a living breathing entity, as real as Mconnell is herself. The way she intertwines stories of childhood and heritage with geological history made me long for the familiar places she wrote about. I don’t usually enjoy scientific novels but something about this one felt different… It felt personal, raw and real. I think the memoir style makes the geological aspects much more approachable for the everyday reader. Even if you’re not from the PNW yourself, there is so much to enjoy about the nature of the West Coast. And if you’ve never visited, there’s absolutely no way you won’t want to after reading this novel.

As a native Oregonian, I felt Mconnell’s novel peel back layers of my own childhood memories that I had long forgotten about. I loved reading about her heart wrenching experience with Council Crest. As I read, feelings of nostalgia washed over me as I remembered my own teenage experiences of sneaking into the park after dark. The park, as long as I can remember it, has always been full of interesting types of people; some families, some young teenagers and some, like Mconnel’s sister, drug addicts. Her memories of her sister as both a chef and an addict forced me to consider the dark parts of Portland intertwined with all the hipster coffee shops and craft breweries. As cliche as it sounds, it really makes you think. As I read through the novel I kept feeling sparks of joy and PNW pride thinking “Hey I’ve been there!”. The way she described our oceans and forests with such detail and love for the outdoors was absolutely perfect and I wouldn’t have described them any differently.

Ultimately, Mconnell’s novel is a call to action: we must save our planet before it’s too late because there is still time. Like Mt. St Helen’s recovery, Ecological recovery is possible too. She leaves the reader with a choice: the choice to do better and make smart decisions about the environment that surrounds us all.

[Val Lind · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruby McConnell defines Ground Truth as "fundamental truth" and describes this as she reminisces on the 1980 Mount St. Helen's eruption paving the way for who she was yesterday, who she is today and reshaping her into what she will be tomorrow.

As someone who recently moved to the PNW and fell in love with it just as fast, this book made me wish I had the experience of growing up here as McConnell did and visibly see the change and wonders she describes in Ground Truth. Describing her familial memories and scientific experiences in significant details, McConnell mastered the art of translating her geological knowledge in a poetic way that even someone (me) who knows nothing of geology can understand.

I found myself underlining passages that I later told my parents I believed McConnell had written directly to me. She somehow managed to spotlight so many personal dilemmas I have fought with, such as whether to continue believing in a better world or prepare to survive the world we have already damaged, she even touched on issues I'm passionate about like the brilliant move in beginning her book by acknowledging the traditional homelands described in Ground Truth belonging first to the Tribal Natives.

This book was hard to put down and even if you don't live in the PNW, you will find it fascinating, heart wrenching and familiar. Her personal narrative intertwined with environmental passion awakens your inner explorer and calls you to take care of the earth you live in as its taken care of you.

"The woman I am today is the result of the processes and forces of this brutal and beautiful land to which I was born and am forever married to, a land of transformation and continuity in which I am destined to abide, endure, and ultimately return." - Ruby McConnell, Ground Truth

[Bailey Potter · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a lover of Celtic folklore, Ruby McConnell had me at "a descendant of selkies." Being an Oregonian and roamer of the Pacific Northwest, I was amazed at the amount of history-however ecologically brief-that was distributed among the echoes of the author's life. Not only did she beautifully describe scenes of her life that had been imprinted into her memory, but she embedded them with lessons of tree, wave, lava, and stone, utilizing her words as the connective tissues. Using this method, McConnell demonstrates to her readers the environmental significance of this land that we live on and how we as stewards of this land need to be more responsible in how we use it. She shows readers how the land itself may react to the irrevocable deeds that humans have produced such as contaminated water and soil, dying salmon, felled forests, and dry riverbeds, but that does not mean there is no hope. In fact, hope may be the only thing left in the face of environmental and climatical catastrophe. The earth prevails, even in its hot deserts and tumultuous rivers. Life prevails-and it will continue to do so. Hopefully, with better, more long-term intentions of being responsible for this place we call home. The author's stories indeed show her marriage to the land, like her selkie ancestors.

It's important to note that while often addressing the history of the Pacific Northwest in regards to the timeline of American colonization as well as the overarching timeline of geological history, McConnell acknowledges Native Americans as the true people of this land.

[Alex Gonzales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ground Truth by Ruby McConnell effortlessly weaves together science and literature. I am not usually a nonfiction reader, and I was pleasantly surprised at how accessible McConnell makes the geological side of the book. Not once did I feel lost by what she was describing just because I'm not a scientist. I can tell McConnell is an introspective and thoughtful person by the way she relates her own stories to the story of the land she has lived and worked on.

"The forces and situations that have shaped my life and those of everyone in the region are knitted to the land, to forces both in and out of our control."

Having just moved to Portland this year, I found it interesting to learn the history of the place I'm now living in. I made many notes on places I want to visit in the Pacific Northwest because of McConnell's story. McConnell demonstrates how the connections between the land and the people have an impact on our lives, and the gratitude we should all have for the world's beauty, power, and mystery. But she also explains how we should respect this planet we live on and work toward preserving/preventing more damage. She also mentions at the beginning that we must remember that these are not our lands, as they were stolen from the Native American people that came before us—which is so important to remember. The book ends on a hopeful note, which I appreciate in the doom and gloom of the era we live in. Life perseveres, and there is always hope for the future.

[Anders Morley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Geologist McConnell has found a charming device to structure a memoir by: just as scientists use field surveys to test the tentative conclusions of remote sensing by going to study sites in pursuit of “ground truth,” McConnell aims to examine her own life, largely as a function of the Pacific Northwestern geography against which it has unfolded, by observing it directly. The eruption of Mount St. Helens, a seminal event in her life, bookends the collection and inspires some of its best writing, and landscape descriptions elsewhere, too, benefit from her geological training. The environmentalist thrust of the essays is towards a gloomy view of ecology whereby humans have done more damage than we can possibly hope to undo. McConnell does not console or scare us, but merely says how bad—or sometimes just how—things are. The personal sections woven into many essays aspire to this same kind of objectivity but mostly come across as self-indulgent. What can one really expect from a geological survey of a love affair? Too strong an attachment to a metaphor gets many writers into trouble. McConnell is at her best when she’s a storyteller, as in a humorous account of an Alaska trip with two urbanite males or a digression on “rabbit roundups.” On a final visit to Mount St. Helens she asks, “Is it a place devastated or rejuvenated?” Her answer seems to be that it is what it is, which is irrefutably true, although a good memoir should elaborate. Elegant passages in the writing are regrettably tarnished by poor copyediting.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ground Truth is a book that I never expected to enjoy. As someone who focuses primarily on YA and fantasy novels, I had an assumption that nonfiction just wasn’t for me. However, reading this book has changed my mind.

The first thing that I appreciated about Ground Truth was Ruby McConnell’s land acknowledgement. There is so much of history and geographical documentation that ignores the importance of the land which we stole. Everyone who really wants to know the truth about their homeland should be made aware of its full history. Being someone that recently moved to Oregon, I find myself even more appreciative of this information as I too am just a migrant in a new land.

The second thing that moved me was the writing itself. Ruby’s words flow so smoothly across the page, effortlessly interweaving geographical information with her personal narrative. Her words crash and flow like the creation of the land she writes about. One moment you are falling into a story of her childhood and the next you are learning about rock formations, but it works so damn well. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn interesting facts about the Pacific Northwest while reading masterly crafted personal essays.

[Rachel Howe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The quality that really makes Ground Truth stand apart from any other memoir or nonfiction piece is Ruby McConnell’s writing. She has this beautiful, almost poetic way of writing that is both soothing and refreshing, especially for a work of science-based nonfiction. The unique perspective and voice that she brings to her writing will have you hooked from the very first essay.

The further into the book I got, the more I realized that this collection of essays is unlike anything I’ve ever read before. McConnell sets out to tell the story of how the Pacific Northwest as we know it came to be, but she tells it using her memories in conjunction with the physical and geographical changes that were taking place at the same time. What she creates is an entirely unique narrative that blends together her memories, her reflections, science, and history to reveal just how much of our history and who we are comes from the land and how it shifts and changes in response to unseen forces within the Earth.

This is a must-read for anyone who loves the Pacific Northwest, its history, or its geology.

[Rachel Lantz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ground Truth is a beautiful study in the similarities between the natural world and our lives. Ruby McConnell uses the geology of the Pacific Northwest as a metaphor for exploring her own life, raised by immigrants from Australia and Ireland in Seattle and then Portland, Oregon. As a geologist McConnell is specially positioned to create this metaphor, using her experience and knowledge to create a backdrop to tell her life's tale. I was impressed by how well her prose flows. She is able to weave the story of her childhood into the lifecycle of a salmon with ease.

As a transplant to the Pacific Northwest, I enjoyed reading about what it was like for McConnell to be raised here. How the region shaped her upbringing, education, and life choices. I appreciated the scientific and historical knowledge I gained about the natural world in the Pacific Northwest, while still being drawn in by McConnell's personal and human-centered stories. I would recommend this book to anyone living in the Pacific Northwest who wants to learn more about their landscape and to anyone who enjoys a good memoir.

[Isabella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ground Truth published in 2020 (Overcup Press) by Ruby McConnell is a poignant collection of creative non fiction essays rooted in the land of the Pacific Northwest. McConnell constructs a series of personal stories revolving around humanitarian issues; such as immigration, assimilation, and environmental degradation. She skillfully uses the environment of the Pacific Northwest as a figurative and literal metaphor for our global issues. As someone who is not familiar with scientific jargon this book was quite accessible and accurate. I love how grounded this book is in the land where McConnell grew up. Her consuming and cleverly written proses are engulfing, I blew through this book in a few days. McConnell’s collection is an homage to the land, sea, and mountains that inhabit Oregon and Washington. McConnell doesn’t hid the wrongdoings of humanity, specifically when it comes to climate change. But McConnell ends her book with the hope that more and more people will begin to realize the power in nature and how it mirrors our existence.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruby McConnell pulls you in right away with beautiful writing and the unexpected. This short book is littered with phrases (such as "like people, terrane rocks retain the characteristics of their previous settings") that force you to pause, catch your breath, maybe utter an exclamation, and feel something hard. McConnell combines geology, history, and basic, profound human experiences with what it means to be alive in the Pacific Northwest -- human or otherwise.

Creative nonfiction has always held a special place in my heart but this book has set a new bar. Despite having next to no science background, McConnell's descriptions and explanations are clear and easy to follow, and I'm able to say I've learned a fair amount about geology because of this book. The parallels drawn between humans/human life/human relationships and geology -- everything from volcanic eruptions and salmon to addiction and loss -- are stunning and thought-provoking. Truly a remarkable piece and is worth a read (or two) -- I dare anyone at all to pick this up and not get something out of it.

[Briana Ybanez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in language that is both eloquent and poetic, McConnell authoritatively writes a unique and personal love letter to the Pacific Northwest. She intertwines concepts of home and familial history with scientific, natural history, without ever making us feel that we are reading a history or science text-book, rather witnessing an intimate, innate urge to view our natural world with fascination and curiosity. Each essay is a meditation on distinct elements that make up the Pacific Northwest's environment, and how growing up with a such strong connection to the land shaped her into who she is. McConnell is mindful of calling readers to action, overturning our knowledge of "untarnished" landscape, reminding us of the ways in which the indigenous people of the PNW were erased before turning their land into man-made features. She challenges us to rethink what shapes our interconnectedness to the land, reminding us of it's fragility, and our own delicate ecosystems that we inhabit everyday.

[Stephany Wilkes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this with a bit of a motive: the hope that McConnell's geologic time scale might lend a much-needed long view to our current pandemic moment, and Ground Truth does not disappoint. This book provides the ego relief that comes from realizing how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things, while showing the devastatingly permanent, collective impacts we have made as a species during our short stay. I appreciate McConnell's scientific experience and the clarity with which she shares it. Ground Truth is gorgeous, compelling, surprising, personal, brave and unflinching, but I think I most admire McConnell’s willingness to ask how, exactly, we can and should be in the places we inhabit when we know how we have changed them. Beauty and wonder are part of her answer.

[Rachel Done · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really love this book, which is atypical of me to like this genre. McConnell does a great job of writing how we are all connected to where we live through the example of her family's story, even though they are immigrants to this place. Some may think it is problematic to have a white person writing so intimately about the land, but again McConnell tastefully approaches this tender subject. She includes a land acknowledgement, and regularly addresses the issues of colonialism that are found in U.S. history in this area.

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruby had me captivated by her writing in this book. Her ability to include a scientific approach along with intertwining her own human experience into the lesson and metaphors nature provides made me want to not finish this book. I honestly read this slower just to savor the writing, like eating slowly to enjoy the taste. I would love to read anything else by her in the future.
Everyone should read this book if they want to gain a better understanding of nature and life and how they interact together.

[Carrie Laben · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of detailed portraits of the Pacific northwest which slowly add up to a life. Suffers a bit from weak editing in the early going, but surmounts these stumbles in the second half.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about place. It is about the land and the ways we bond our own identity with it, and what we reasonably and unreasonably expect of it. Beautiful and thoughtful.

[Ev Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy read and great for geology lovers & not alike! Interesting, endearing and educational to the end.

[Brendan O'Meara · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly touching and wonderfully written work grounded in science and elevated by love.

[Mya · Rating 3 out of 5]

"My understanding of the region that I was born to is much like my understanding of Mount St. Helens, based on observations and measurements made from a distance. But one thing is clear: The forces and situations that have shaped my life and those of everyone in the region are knitted to the land, to forces both in and out of our control."

Ruby McConnell takes us on an adventure of who she is through the land she was born and grew up in. McConnell does a great job describing her life both geographically (environmentally) and narratively. This is an out-of-order memoir and contains a lot of facts and research about Oregon. She also talks greatly about the places she visits also.

"I am an Oregon native; like the wild salmon of the Columbia River run the streams of my youth come from a single source descending first to the the Willamette, then the Columbia, then out to the Pacific Ocean."

One thing I loved about this memoir was the insane amount of detail she had towards her native land. This story is about a girl who lived here all her life, and you can tell when reading it!

As much as I enjoyed quotes like these, I also got lost in some of her research towards where she had been or lived. Sometimes when we are writing we get so immersed in the story that we are trying to communicate, we lose sense of what life really means for us. I feel in some areas that I was reading, it felt more like a research paper than what her story and voice was. That could be because she is a geologist, but I wanted more of her personal connection and emotions towards what she was writing.

"Trying to describe what it looks like when a five-hundred-year-old community of living things is decimated by clear-cutting like trying to describe the vastness of the ocean or, rather, the absence of the ocean."

I believe this quote McConnell had said is very true in this sense in how she is writing. When one is so passionate about their land you want to give the most detailed experience as possible for the reader. She definitely did so in her historic, natured detail, and glimpses of her own life towards this land.

As much as I wanted to know more of her personal life story and her deepest emotions towards where she is from, I can say with full confidence that she KNOWS where she is from and wants others to see it from her lens.

My final rating for this is: 3.75 stars!

[Emily Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruby McConnell's "Ground Truth: A Geological Survey of Life" narrates the deep history of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest-a history built on geography but rooted in geology. But this book is also a clear reflection of her life intertwined with the geological history. While reading this book, I felt that she is a true child of Mother Nature since her heart and soul became one with the landscape. In each chapter she has linked the geological events and time scales into the story of her life-whether its is the eruption of Mt. St Helens, or the rainy weather or the death of her sister Mary on the hilltop of Council Crest. Through her clear and descriptive narrating style she brings every aspect of her life story and the geological history of Oregon much closer to the readers heart and mind. Even for someone like me, who never visited Oregon, the place come alive because of her writing. However, through her writing she also appeals to her readers to save the planet and make wise decisions to take good care of the environment on which we thrive.
As a former student of Geography, it is a fascinating read for me. But this book is also a must recommendation for those readers who wants to understand the connection between human life and nature. Lastly, I would say that after reading this book, there is a possibility that we might pause, take a step back and think about and explore our own connections to the land where we all come from.

[Bobby Ciarletta · Rating 4 out of 5]

McConnell has a unique ethos to write about environmental issues and awaken her American readers from other parts of the country, who, like myself, may go long swathes of time without ever being forced to consider our relationship to the natural world. She tries to sober us from this harmful illusion by sharing her valuable insights as a geologist and resident of the Pacific Northwest with stories to offer.

As a reader, I am repeatedly struck by the witty connections the writer makes between the land and the human self in ways I never conceived. Some of these parallels can be subtle, and you need to remain on the lookout for them to fully see the genius there. In her words, she captures the calm beauty of the land blended with a reverence and seriousness for its power.

I also respect McConnell’s humility to revise her views of Mt. St. Helens by the book’s conclusion. Her discovery of the land’s potential for rebirth and not only destruction, like ourselves as people, is the kind of wisdom you do not stumble upon in just any book.