Damnation Spring

What can readers concerned about the environment today learn from a story like this about a similar struggle in the 1970s?

What role does gender play in this community? What sort of lives do the women in the story lead, and what might their prospects look like in the aftermath of the story’s events?

Can you identify any other struggles in regions of the US or in the wider world, where big business is damaging the environment? How do local communities feel about it? And what are they doing about the situation?

There are many different positions in the community on what is happening, ranging from activists like Daniel, or deniers like Eugene. Which character’s opinion do you sympathize with most and why? Use examples from the text to outline where your character stands.

How does Davidson incorporate an Indigenous view of the land into her story? Can you use examples from the text to summarize what the Yurok position is on the area’s forests and waterways?

As soon as Rich buys the land, he is caught between wanting to support his wife and needing to keep Merle on his side. How does he try to do this? What would you have done in his situation?

Davidson shows different approaches to parenting in the story, including Colleen’s, Enid’s, and to some degree Helen and Carl’s. What are some of the challenges parents in the story’s world face and how do they approach them? What choices do you agree or disagree with?

Have you ever visited a redwood forest? Or even another outstanding natural beauty spot? Can you find the language to describe both the environment and the experience? Write about your encounter with nature and how you think it changed you.