Reclamation

Reclamation is a tense social thriller about class, masculinity, technology, land, art, resentment and birth. It takes place during an impossible late-spring snowstorm in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where a wealthy tech exile and his pregnant artist wife become trapped in their expensive modern house while local men with old claims to the land circle them, exploit them, and finally invade. The title refers to several kinds of reclamation: reclaimed wood and old mill parts used in the house, Bruce Wheeler’s sense that the land should still belong to his family, Stuart’s pathetic desire to reclaim his manhood, and Drew’s impossible wish to reclaim a life he thinks Micheline briefly offered him.

The novel opens with Stuart Jacobson, a rich former tech founder, watching snow fall in May. He and his wife Micheline live in a luxurious mountain house built with reclaimed local materials. Micheline is almost eight months pregnant. Their house is full of tasteful details, smart systems, batteries, solar panels, art, high-end appliances and an AI assistant called Medusa. Stuart sees the house as proof of competence and preparation. Micheline, who is enigmatic, dry, beautiful and emotionally hard to read, seems less impressed by his systems.

A young tow-truck driver named Drew appears at their sliding door, half frozen, saying he has crashed his truck in the storm. Stuart lets him in. Drew is awkward, strange and watchful. He works for Big Family Auto Clinic, owned by his father Bruce Wheeler. Drew seems to recognise Micheline and keeps saying they know each other, though she denies it. Stuart feels uneasy but tries to be civil. He gives Drew coffee and lets him use the phone. Drew notices the house, the old mill wheel chandelier, the reclaimed wood, the batteries, the expensive cars and the comforts of wealth. He also tells Stuart that the land used to belong to his family. The mill wheel in the house is something he once played on as a child.