Jean Hegland

Jean Hegland’s Followers (256)

member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
Hilda K...
817 books | 412 friends

Lori
2,300 books | 55 friends

Mulva
693 books | 28 friends

Andy
1,473 books | 171 friends

Sophie ...
1,494 books | 103 friends

Cathy
758 books | 743 friends

Tez
Tez
3,025 books | 741 friends

Michael...
378 books | 90 friends

More friends…

Jean Hegland

Goodreads Author


Born
in Pullman, Washington, The United States
Website

Genre

Member Since
May 2013


Jean Hegland's first novel, INTO THE FOREST, has been translated into eleven languages and is a frequent choice for campus- and community-wide reading programs. A film version starring Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood is scheduled for release in spring 2015. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY promises her second novel, WINDFALLS, is “a good prospect for reading groups.” Excerpts from her non-fiction work, THE LIFE WITHIN: CELEBRATION OF A PREGNANCY, have appeared in a junior high school science textbook, a college English textbook, and a guided journal for pregnant women. STILL TIME, her most recent novel, celebrates the work of William Shakespeare while taking a hopeful look at the harrowing challenges of dementia. Jean is a frequent presenter at writers' c ...more

To ask Jean Hegland questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

Jean Hegland I love it whenever anyone asks this question, since it implies that, like me, they, too, continue to wonder what happened after INTO THE FOREST ended!…moreI love it whenever anyone asks this question, since it implies that, like me, they, too, continue to wonder what happened after INTO THE FOREST ended! For many years, I was happy to leave it at that, but lately I've found myself wondering--and even writing--about what those characters are doing now, so maybe there will be some kind of sequel, after all. Wish me luck! (less)
Jean Hegland Thanks for your question, Meira!

What inspired me to write INTO THE FOREST turned out to be a lucky conjunction of a number of the questions I'd been t…more
Thanks for your question, Meira!

What inspired me to write INTO THE FOREST turned out to be a lucky conjunction of a number of the questions I'd been thinking a lot about at that particular point in my life. For example, I was living in an actual forest for the first time ever, so I was curious about both forests in general, and also about the particular forest in which I was living. In addition, although neither my mother, my maternal grandmother, nor I had a sister, I had one- and three-year-old daughters, so I was very curious about the potential challenges and blessings of sisterhood. And finally, I was very concerned about the future. It was clear to me that those of us who live in consumer societies would not be able to continue our current lifestyles indefinitely. The Earth is a big and benevolent planet, but its resources are not infinite, and I found myself fascinated by what one version of that disruption might look like, and what it might be possible to learn from it.



(less)
Average rating: 3.81 · 19,822 ratings · 2,475 reviews · 10 distinct worksSimilar authors
Into the Forest

3.81 avg rating — 17,477 ratings — published 1996 — 73 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Windfalls

3.91 avg rating — 759 ratings — published 2004 — 22 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Dans la forêt

by
3.54 avg rating — 642 ratings5 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Still Time

3.70 avg rating — 548 ratings — published 2015 — 7 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Le Temps d'Après

4.07 avg rating — 403 ratings6 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
America - Numéro 2

by
4.13 avg rating — 38 ratings4 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Life Within: Celebratio...

by
3.59 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 1991 — 5 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Le Temps d'après: Dans la f...

by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
Rate this book
Clear rating
Coffret Dans la Forêt & Le ...

0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
Children's Letters to God: ...

by
0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
More books by Jean Hegland…
Familiaris
Jean Hegland is currently reading
bookshelves: currently-reading
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
The Books of Jacob
Jean Hegland is currently reading
bookshelves: currently-reading
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
The Fifth Season
Jean Hegland is currently reading
by N.K. Jemisin (Goodreads Author)
bookshelves: currently-reading
Rate this book
Clear rating

 

Jean’s Recent Updates

Jean Hegland is currently reading
Familiaris by David Wroblewski
Rate this book
Clear rating
Jean Hegland rated a book it was amazing
Why We Need to Be Wild by Jessica Carew Kraft
Rate this book
Clear rating
More of Jean's books…
Quotes by Jean Hegland  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“This body is yours. No one can ever take it from you, if only you will accept yourself, claim it again--your arms, your spine, your ribs, the small of your back. It's all yours. All this bounty, all this beauty, all this strength and grace is yours. This garden is yours. Take it back. Take it back.”
Jean Hegland, Into the Forest

“I think unconsciously I was afraid that if she asked me how I felt, my unleashed grief and rage would kill us all. In some unadmitted corner of myself I was already weeping and screaming and begging her not to leave me, not to go. If I started crying for real, only her comfort could make me stop, and if she died before she had finished comforting me, then I would be left to cry forever.”
Jean Hegland

“I never knew how much we consumed. It seems as if we are all appetite, as if a human being is simply a bundle of needs to drain the world. It's no wonder there are wars, no wonder the earth and water and air are polluted. It's no wonder the economy collapsed, if Eva and I use so much merely to stay alive.”
Jean Hegland, Into the Forest

Polls

What would you like to read in November to discuss in December? Read anytime before December 1st, when the book discussion will open. Please don't be a vote and run - vote only if you will return to discuss. Happy voting!

Having trouble deciding? Please use the comments to mention other books on this list you are interested in. That will be considered for tie-breakers or options for later months etc.


Into the Forest by Jean Hegland
May be at larger library, $10.99 Kindle, used print starting at $3.00
1996, 243 pages, 3.81 stars


"Over 30 miles from the nearest town, and several miles away from their nearest neighbor, Nell and Eva struggle to survive as society begins to decay and collapse around them. No single event precedes society's fall. There is talk of a war overseas and upheaval in Congress, but it still comes as a shock when the electricity runs out and gas is nowhere to be found. The sisters consume the resources left in the house, waiting for the power to return. Their arrival into adulthood, however, forces them to reexamine their place in the world and their relationship to the land and each other.

Reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale, Into the Forest is a mesmerizing and thought-provoking novel of hope and despair set in a frighteningly plausible near-future America."
 
  8 votes, 44.4%


Utopia Project: Everyone Must Die by Billy Dering
Not at library, $6.99 Kindle, inexpensive used print
2021, 242 pages, 3.90 stars


"An apocalyptic event. A simple gift box from a military father. A stunning connection between and possibly the last hope for humanity.

After America’s controversial presidential election in 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, several decades of escalating civil crises have ensued. The governments of many countries have conspired to develop the ultimate solution for controlling the lives of their citizens. The new society, forged in the secret Utopia Project, provides for all of your needs without cost, promotes recreational group sex, raises offspring without parents and offers a life without stress.

When the project’s true purpose is revealed, a nightmare weapon turns the rest of the world into a mass grave of melted corpses. Inexplicably, not everyone died as planned. On the east coast of America, Sara Hyland and boyfriend Kid Carlson somehow survive. Hunted by the merciless forces of the Utopia Project, a single thread of hope is discovered in a gift box, given to Sara by her military father the night of the destruction. But is it too late to save humanity from extinction?"
 
  4 votes, 22.2%


Aurora by David Koepp
At library, $14.99 Kindle, used print starting at $1.59
2022, 289 pages, 3.81 stars


"In Aurora, Illinois, Aubrey Wheeler is just trying to get by after her semi-criminal ex-husband split, leaving behind his unruly teenage son.

Then the lights go out--not just in Aurora but across the globe. A solar storm has knocked out power almost everywhere. Suddenly, all problems are local, very local, and Aubrey must assume the mantle of fierce protector of her suburban neighborhood.

Across the country lives Aubrey's estranged brother, Thom. A fantastically wealthy, neurotically over-prepared Silicon Valley CEO, he plans to ride out the crisis in a gilded desert bunker he built for maximum comfort and security.

But the complicated history between the siblings is far from over, and what feels like the end of the world is just the beginning of several long-overdue reckonings--which not everyone will survive..."
 
  3 votes, 16.7%


The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson
May be at larger library, $5.99 Kindle, used print starting at $2.59
2022, 512 pages, 3.86 stars


"A mysterious plague that causes random bouts of violence is sweeping the nation. Now three generations of women must navigate their chilling new reality in this moving exploration of identity, cycles of abuse, and hope.

Chelsea Martin appears to be the perfect housewife: married to her high school sweetheart, the mother of two daughters, keeper of an immaculate home.

But Chelsea's husband has turned their house into a prison; he has been abusing her for years, cutting off her independence, autonomy, and support. She has nowhere to turn, not even to her narcissistic mother, Patricia, who is more concerned with maintaining the appearance of an ideal family than she is with her daughter's actual well-being. And Chelsea is worried that her daughters will be trapped just as she is--then a mysterious illness sweeps the nation.

Known as The Violence, this illness causes the infected to experience sudden, explosive bouts of animalistic rage and attack anyone in their path. But for Chelsea, the chaos and confusion the virus causes is an opportunity--and inspires a plan to liberate herself from her abuser."
 
  2 votes, 11.1%


Radio Life by Derek B. Miller
Not at library, $3.99 Kindle, used print starting at $9.20
2021, 400 pages, 4.08 stars


"In this riveting political thriller, The Commonwealth, a post-apocalyptic civilisation on the rise, is locked in a clash of ideas with the Keepers, a fight which threatens to destroy the world... again.

When Lilly was first Chief Engineer at The Commonwealth, nearly fifty years ago, the Central Archive wasn't yet the greatest repository of knowledge in the known world, protected by scribes copying every piece of found material - books, maps, even scraps of paper - and disseminating them by Archive Runners to hidden off-site locations for safe keeping. Back then, there was no Order of Silence to create and maintain secret routes deep into the sand-covered towers of the Old World or into the northern forests beyond Sea Glass Lake. Back then, the world was still quiet, because Lilly hadn't yet found the Harrington Box.

But times change. Recently, the Keepers have started gathering to the east of Yellow Ridge - thousands upon thousands of them - and every one of them determined to burn the Central Archives to the ground, no matter the cost, possessed by an irrational fear that bringing back the ancient knowledge will destroy the world all over again. To prevent that, they will do anything.

Fourteen days ago the Keepers chased sixteen-year-old Archive Runner Elimisha into a forbidden Old World Tower and brought the entire thing down on her. Instead of being killed, though, she slipped into an ancient unmapped bomb shelter where she has discovered a cache of food and fresh water, a two-way radio like the one Lilly's been working on for years... and something else. Something that calls itself 'the internet'..."

 
  1 vote, 5.6%

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
Challenge: 50 Books: Jess J's 50 book challenge 93 244 Dec 31, 2010 07:45AM  
Apocalypse Whenever: Suggested reading 191 894 Jan 31, 2011 07:22PM  
You'll love this ...: This topic has been closed to new comments. July nominations: Dystopia **NOW CLOSED** 13 54 May 25, 2011 12:02PM  
The Life of a Boo...: Sally906's 2012 reading challenge 6 45 Nov 29, 2011 07:40AM  
Building a SciFi/...: need book advice on post apocalyptic fiction 60 406 Jun 02, 2013 08:23PM  
Book Haven: Book title/author game 1161 737 Oct 16, 2013 03:49AM  
readers advisory ...: SF/Fantasy strong female characters 54 599 Sep 12, 2014 01:01PM  
Young Adult Book ...: Page 46! 117 616 Apr 11, 2015 02:41AM  
No comments have been added yet.