I found most of these characters varied and contradictory, occasionally acting in naked self-interest, but also open to the beauty and possibilities of both the people and the landscapes around them. There are some who who innocently transgress, and others who prey on the people around them, and Boyle does a good job of distinguishing between their motives.

I hope your next attempt to read him gives you a good read.

I would also like to recommend Merilyn Simond’s The Holding, in which a back-to-the-lander communes with a pioneer woman who lived on the same property years before. I am always on the lookout for back-to-the-land fiction; any more recommendations are appreciated.