Birnam Wood

From the Booker-winning author of The Luminaries, this comedy of manners is also a gripping psychological thriller.

For years, Mira Bunting has been working toward Birnam Wood "breaking good"-hoping this ragtag collective finds a balance between resources, time, and the fruits of their labor, not just for their survival but to prove that a model of collaboration and self-governance can be a sustainable alternative to the earth-killing paradigm of capitalism. Roadside guerrilla gardens haven't been enough, but then Mira stumbles on an answer.

A landslide has closed the Korowai Pass, completely cutting off the town of Thorndike. Natural disaster has created an opportunity: a sizable farm seemingly abandoned.

But Mira is not the only one interested in this spot. Robert Lemoine, the enigmatic American billionaire, has snatched it up to build his end-times bunker-or so he tells Mira when he catches her on the property. Still, he's intrigued by her and the collective. It's no harm to him if they work the land. He admires their entrepreneurial spirit. But can they trust him? And as their ideals are tested, can they trust each other?

A kaleidoscopic take on Macbeth where any character could claim the title role, Eleanor Catton's Birnam Wood is a brilliant consideration of intentions, actions, and consequences, and the impossible promise of certainty. It is also a loving, unflinching examination of the human impulse to ensure our own survival.