Selective Abandonment

In Ann Clizer's first novel, a triad of eccentric characters delivers an offbeat ride through rough country, providing a fresh look at familiar challenges. Haley Hanover is smart, aggressive and more than a little crazy, a combination she attempts to mold to her advantage after she's diagnosed with breast cancer. Grizz Collins backs her up the best way he can: with tolerance, devotion and regular retreats into the natural world. Adrift in a failing marriage, Liv Nuttley casts about for a safe port, terrified she lacks the guts to reinvent herself. When Liv reaches out to Grizz for help with more than her ailing Ford Bronco the kaleidoscope shifts: each one measures choices against potential consequences and desired results. Haley wants a direct route to survival, grasping at sacred traditions from her Native American heritage and relegating long-term partnership to a lowly spot on her totem pole; Grizz seeks connection and meaning, desperate to develop ties with long-lost family he had only begun cultivating when Haley's illness commandeered their shared existence; Liv courts inner fortitude through unorthodox avenues, plunging into unknown territory with no expertise at taking responsibility for her own trajectory. Set against the wild landscape of the Pacific Northwest's Cabinet Mountains, Selective Abandonment is a compelling adventure with modern-day pioneers.