Barkskins

Annie Proulx's "Barkskins" is an epic historical saga spanning over 300 years, tracing the interconnected destinies of two French immigrants, René Sel and Charles Duquet, who arrive in New France (present-day Canada) in the late 17th century. Bound as woodcutters, or 'barkskins,' Sel endures a life of arduous labor and hardship, his descendants grappling with their mixed heritage and the encroaching destruction of the natural world. Duquet, more ambitious and cunning, escapes his servitude to build a timber empire, his lineage contributing to the relentless exploitation of North America's vast forests. The narrative follows their descendants across continents, through wars, environmental devastation, cultural clashes, and personal tragedies, all while meticulously detailing the systematic logging that reshaped the landscape. Proulx masterfully interweaves individual struggles with the larger ecological narrative, presenting a poignant and often brutal examination of humanity's relationship with nature and the long-term consequences of unchecked resource consumption, culminating in a modern-day reckoning with ecological collapse.