Commune (A Novel)

This is the spellbinding story of six young dreamers who set out from Vancouver in the seventies to haphazardly establish a back-to-the-land commune on a small island in the Salish Sea.

Against all odds, the dream endures for half a century through fierce internecine squabbling, occasional community uproar, births and deaths, disasters in animal husbandry, the War in the Woods, police raids and the blandishments of oily developers. But throughout it all what abides is the land itself, its gifts and spirits and seasonal graces. A story within a story, the tale is told by the commune’s sole remaining occupant to an enigmatic stranger. Herself a recent urban exile exploring the ways of rural living, she succeeds in coaxing him through his rememberings away from grief into renewed life.

Des Kennedy brings his signature humor and intimate knowledge of gardens and woodlands to this engaging novel. Throughout Commune, Kennedy poses the big questions—how do we best live our lives? Build community? Create a new paradigm for raising kids, growing food and honoring the genius of our place?