The shape of wilderness1995

Twin sisters Miranda and Rose live in a deserted hotel that their dreamer father built to attract a railroad and a city which never came. As their mother chases a delusion of her own, the sisters encounter an itinerant artist and a shady trapper whose impact on their lives proves shattering. With exquisite storytelling and seamless use of magic realism, The Shape of Wilderness follows Miranda and Rose on a journey of carnal and metaphysical love; spiritual and emotional violence; art and materialism; wilderness and civilization; loss and coming-of-age. A map of the mythos of America, a cartography of the human spirit, this stunning novel explores how we shape our destinies and how they shape us.