Thanks to David Guterson, Sherman Alexie and others, semi-historical Northwest novels like Snow Falling on Cedars are becoming more prominent in American literature. Explore Grey Pine on this website and you'll find that it is one of the most recent additions to this genre.
There are many parallels between Snow Falling on Cedars and Grey Pine. As the treatment of Japanese Americans during WWII gives historical credence to Snow Falling on Cedars, my personal experience with the aftermath of Mt. St. Helens has allowed me to create an accurate, semi-historical setting for Grey Pine.
In Grey Pine, Phillip Stark is a young science teacher in Eastern Washington living with an alcoholic father, Stephen, who is slipping further from reality. On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupts; Phillip is simultaneously in awe of the six-inch ash fall while dreading the return of his meticulous father. The havoc from the volcano exacerbates Phillip's conflicts not only with Stephen, but also the school system, his girlfriend, and his father's drinking crony next door. Those pressures and an unexpected tragedy push Phillip close to the destructive abyss of critical depression. Against a blackened landscape in post-Vietnam America, Phillip must fight his obstinate, crowded mind to quell the violent impulses and find relief in self acceptance.
So, if you're a fan of Snow Falling on Cedars, I hope you'll check out Grey Pine. Click here to read some historical, tragic and, yes, light moments from Grey Pine.