Der Wald

Idealistic environmental activists collide with a charismatic billionaire devoid of morals – in her new novel, Eleanor Catton masterfully brings worlds together while tackling the themes of our time. With wit, a cinematic plot, and a thrilling finale, the Booker Prize winner presents a novel that combines the weight of great Shakespearean dramas with the keen social sensibility of George Eliot.

Mira Bunting is the founder of a guerrilla gardening group called Birnam Wood. As an unregistered philanthropic collective of friends operating on the edge of legality, the group plants and harvests where no one notices: on the edges of roads, in forgotten parks, and neglected backyards. For years, the group has struggled to cover its expenses. Then Mira stumbles upon an opportunity to finally make the project sustainable in the long term: a landslide has closed the Korowai Pass, cutting off the town of Thorndike. The natural disaster has also isolated a large farm that appears to be abandoned. But Mira is not the only one interested in the area. Robert Lemoine, the mysterious American billionaire, has secured the farm to build an apocalyptic bunker – at least that's what he tells Mira when he catches her on the property. He is fascinated by Mira and proposes that she cultivate the land. A deal that will have consequences. Who is Lemoine really? Can she trust him as the ideals of Birnam Wood are put to the test?.