The Woman Who Lives in the Earth

Originally self-published, Wolfe's disarmingly simple novel, part Aesopian fable, part environmentalist parable, clearly aspires to the timeless, ageless stature of The Little Prince. In a time before the advent of machines, a girl named Sarah and her farmer parents, Aesa and Ada, find their simple life threatened by a drought that has left their valley desperate for water. On a trip to town for supplies, Sarah attracts the attention of a mysterious person known as the Lizard Woman, in whom Sarah strikes a visceral, irrational fear. The Lizard Woman makes Sarah's presence known to three equally mysterious riders, the town's lawkeepers, known as the Triune. Why are they so suspicious of a small child? Maybe they know that Sarah has befriended a magical fox named Marishan Borison, who encourages Sarah's latent abilities to connect with the natural world. Hounded, Sarah must then divine the true source of the drought before the Triune and a mob from town, convinced of her demonic qualities, sacrifice her in a misguided attempt to bring on the rain. Wolfe's unadorned prose pushes this book toward the boundaries of young-adult fiction, as does his rather easy celebration of the virtues of simplicity and childlike wisdom over the fearful, paranoid superstitions of the throng. But the tale, charmingly told, should reawaken readers to the pleasures of allegory. $100,000 ad/promo; author tour. (Jan.)