Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

 

Five years ago, a group of young people came together and created a collective called Birnam Wood.  Mira and Tony were founders and soon afterwards Shelley came on board.  The purpose of Birnam Wood is to provide more food and they grow crops wherever they can find land, regardless of who owns it and whose water they are using.  They are somewhat criminal but believe they have right on their side.  The collective is constantly in financial trouble as the plots they can find are far sprung and its difficult to grow enough to make a profit.  Tony left and went to the United States for years but is recently back.

But there may be an opportunity for Birnam Wood.  A landslide near the mountains has left a large farm fairly deserted.  The owners, a recently knighted businessman and his wife, had planned to subdivide it and sell it for housing estates but after the landslide that plan had to be put on hold.  That huge plot of land, backing onto a national park, could be Birnam Wood's salvation if they get there and start planting.  But they aren't the only ones interested in the farm.  A billionaire named Robert Lemoine is in the process of buying the farm.  When he finds Mira on the land, he seems interested in Birnam Wood and soon is offering to sponsor it.  He tell Mira and Shelley that he is planning to build a bunker on the farm but they are welcome there in the meantime.

Meanwhile, Tony suspects something is going on and camps out in the park, looking for what is going on so that he can fulfill his dream of becoming a journalist.  He discovers Lemoine's true purpose and puts himself in danger along with the people of Birnam Wood.  Can he survive long enough to get the story out?

Eleanor Catton is a New Zealand author who was the youngest Booker Prize winner ever with her second novel, Luminaries.  This book is her third novel and generated a lot of buzz as it was chosen as a best book by NPR, Kirkus, The Washington Post, Time and others.  The action is fast and furious and the characters are all given sufficient backstories that the reader feels they understand them.  The inevitable clash between idealism and capitalism provides lots of drama although the ending is a bit abrupt.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.