The intertwined lives of two women on personal quests for self-understanding form the crux of this narrative.
In the year 2021, Rowan Fairfax is at a pivotal point in her life. She is financially strapped, her aspirations of becoming a screenwriter seem unattainable, and she is increasingly skeptical about her boyfriend, Seth, who has sidelined his novel to concentrate on a YouTube channel documenting their lives. They plan a month-long retreat to the Adirondacks, hoping it will reignite their creative spark and get their lives back on track. However, the wilderness holds more than she anticipates: Rowan uncovers the enigma of Eddie Callaway, a former socialite who abandoned her high-society life following her son’s death at 18. She returned to her parents’ campground to create a new, liberated life for herself and to inspire other women to do the same. But then, she vanished a few years later.
The narrative alternates between Rowan’s and Eddie’s stories, with Brown illustrating the lives of two very different women driven by a common yearning for self-discovery, meaningful relationships, and making a positive impact on the world. As Eddie strives to find new purpose in her life, Rowan grapples with doing the same. Although Brown successfully develops Eddie’s character, Rowan and Seth’s characters are somewhat underdeveloped, leading readers to skim through their chapters to return to Eddie’s more captivating narrative. Despite this, Eddie’s story holds enough mystery and emotional depth to retain the reader’s interest, even though the moral of the story is somewhat overstated.
