Hexes of the Deadwood Forest

Szpila’s wild ecofeminist debut centers on bipolar antiheroine Anna Frenza, CEO of Poland’s national oil company. Brash and abusive, Frenza rails against what she views as empty rhetoric from environmental activists who “claim to be the saviors of the planet but would, in reality, do pretty much anything for a Hass avocado and an almond milk latte.” Ironically, Frenza is revealed to be a tree hugger of a different kind when she’s caught on camera having sex with a tree while sleepwalking and loses her job. The incident gives way to a whopping tale of time travel through medieval Poland where, in the 17th century, the Earthen Ones, a tribe of nature-worshipping women, are led by Mathilde Spalt. The Earthen Ones have renounced conventional life to live in the forest and have carnal knowledge of plants—their lovers are trees, moss, twigs, and branches. Most fascinating is the latter part of the novel, in which Frenza, back in the present, is in a mental institution populated with modern-day Earthen Ones. Driving the bizarre material are intriguing ideas on gender, climate change, and religion. There’s an arresting quality to this strange tale. (Apr.)