Into the Forest

by Jean Hegland

Paperback, 256 pages

Published Feb. 5, 1998 by Trafalgar Square.

ISBN:: 978-0-09-925672-4

(7 reviews)

Set in the near-future, Into the Forest is a powerfully imagined novel that focuses on the relationship between two teenage sisters living alone in their Northern California forest home.

Over 30 miles from the nearest town, and several miles away from their nearest neighbor, Nell and Eva struggle to survive as society begins to decay and collapse around them. No single event precedes society's fall. There is talk of a war overseas and upheaval in Congress, but it still comes as a shock when the electricity runs out and gas is nowhere to be found. The sisters consume the resources left in the house, waiting for the power to return. Their arrival into adulthood, however, forces them to reexamine their place in the world and their relationship to the land and each other.

Reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale, Into the Forest is a mesmerizing and thought-provoking novel …

Set in the near-future, Into the Forest is a powerfully imagined novel that focuses on the relationship between two teenage sisters living alone in their Northern California forest home.

Reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale, Into the Forest is a mesmerizing and thought-provoking novel of hope and despair set in a frighteningly plausible near-future America.

7 editions

SpiderKitten reviewed Into the forest by Jean Hegland

Review of 'Into the forest' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I thought this started out well. A bleak look at the decay of society from the point of view of a teenage girl. But unfortunately it did not live up to its promise for me.

I felt that the characters devolved far too quickly for the time period in which the novel was set, and there were several inconsistencies and holes in the story that I couldn't get past.

Very much one for the teen audience, it was an easy read, but at the end of the day not enough substance for me.