Dave Cartwright used to be good at a lot of things: good with his hands, good at solving problems, good at staying calm in a crisis. But on the heels of his third tour in Iraq, the fabric of Dave’s life has begun to unravel.
Gripped by PTSD, he finds himself losing his home, his wife, his direction. Most days, his love for his seven-year-old daughter, Bella, is the only thing keeping him going. When tragedy strikes, Dave makes a dramatic decision: the two of them will flee their damaged lives, heading off the grid to live in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest.
As they carve out a home in a cave in that harsh, breathtaking landscape, echoes of its past begin to reach them. Bella retreats into herself, absorbed by visions of a mother and son who lived in the cave thousands of years earlier, at the end of the last ice age. Back in town, Dave and Bella themselves are rapidly becoming the stuff of legend—to all but those who would force them to return home. As winter sweeps toward the North Cascades, past and present intertwine into a timeless odyssey.
Poignant and profound, Legends of the North Cascades brings Jonathan Evison’s trademark vibrant, honest voice to bear on an expansive story that is at once a meditation on the perils of isolation and an exploration of the ways that connection can save us.
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“This modern back-to-the-land story feels like John Krakauer’s Into the Wild meets Jean M. Auel’s Clan of the Cave Bear, a combination that makes for a compelling read.”
— Library Journal
“Narrator Edoardo Ballerini’s clear and evocative delivery of Evison’s novel works splendidly…Ballerini’s performance is masterful. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile“A subtle yet pointed commentary on how society marginalizes veterans…[and] a profound meditation on the human spirit.”
— Booklist (starred review)“An intimate…story of grief and parenthood.”
— Publishers Weekly“[A] reminder of how human decency can prevail in the darkest of situations.”
— Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author“Only a writer of Evison’s talent could so brilliantly weave the struggles of a PTSD-stricken veteran and the ghosts of an ancient family into such a powerful social commentary.”
— Willy Vlautin, author of Don’t Skip Out on Me“What a great storyteller [Evison] is…After exploring themes of what it is to be human, this tale has a very satisfying ending.”
— San Diego TribuneBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Jonathan Evison is the author of several books, including All About Lulu, which won the Washington State Book Award.
Edoardo Ballerini, an American actor, director, film producer, and multiaward–winning narrator. He has won several Audie Awards for best narration, including for 2019’s Best Male Narrator of the Year. He was named by Booklist as winner of their 2023 Voice of Choice Award, and was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine in 2019. He has narrated over two hundred audiobooks, from classics to modern masters, from bestsellers to the inspirational, from Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners to spine-tingling series, and much more. In television and film, he is best known for his roles in A Murder at the End of the World, The Sopranos, 24, I Shot Andy Warhol, Dinner Rush, and Romeo Must Die. He is also trained in theater and continues to do much work on stage.