Animal Heart: A Novel [Hardcover]

Brenda Peterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 2004

When an eerie mass stranding of whales and dolphins takes place along the mist-shrouded Oregon coast, forensic wildlife pathologist Isabel Spinner and her friend and coworker Marian Windhorse Gray covertly investigate this disaster as a crime against wildlife. For years, Isabel has kept plenty of emotional distance between herself and other humans while devoting herself to easing the suffering of animals. But when Isabel meets Marshall McGreggor, an undersea photographer whose recent transplant has him delving into the mystery surrounding his new heart, the two find themselves making surprising decisions that will forever change their lives.
In this, her fourth, novel, renowned author Brenda Peterson offers a captivating love story of people whose compassion for animals compels them into extraordinary acts of heroism. Based on cutting-edge science, this powerful page-turner tackles such timely and troubling issues as low-frequency active sonar and animal experimentation and forewarns of a future of Dead Zone oceans, disappearing species, and a world with creatures whose DNA boundaries have been genetically blurred. At once prescient and poignant, Animal Heart is a haunting, highly original story of the deep bonds between humans and animals--and of our inevitably linked fates.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Novelist and nature writer Peterson (Duck and Cover; Nature and Our Mothers) crafts an uneven and melodramatic but gripping tale about love, xenotransplantation (transplanting organs and tissue across species) and the military-industrial complex's flagrant disregard for environmental responsibility. Two forensic wildlife pathologists—Isabel Spinner (a restless, dedicated animal lover and second-generation Scot) and Marian Windhorse Gray (a beautiful, flirty Oskeena Native American)—join Isabel's underwater photographer brother, Andrew, and his associate, obsidian-eyed Marshall McGreggor, for a dive to photograph an undersea volcano off the Oregon coast, when Marshall suffers a massive coronary. Lacking a healthy human heart, doctors implant the heart of a baboon, forcing Marshall to come to terms with his status as xenotransplantation guinea pig as well as his sudden and disturbing dreams of being a baboon on a savanna. He makes a miraculous recovery and becomes friends with spunky Irene Feinstein, a young woman with a pig valve in her heart, but is increasingly troubled by dreams of Hara, a female baboon in distress. Meanwhile, a disastrous beaching of whales and dolphins on the Oregon coast leads to the discovery that underwater U.S. military experiments with mid-to-low-frequency active sonar may be destroying the inner ears of the sea mammals. Is this just sonar—or the prototype for some new and terrible weapon? When Irene tells Marshall that Hara is being held in a Portland animal testing lab, they, aided by Andrew and a bunch of activists, orchestrate a daring rescue before they head back to the coast to try to stop the sonar experiments. Clunky exposition and credibility-straining twists mar the book, but Peterson's passion shines through.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Nature writer and novelist Peterson, author of Build Me an Ark (2001), brings her expertise in wildlife to a thought-provoking tale that is part romance and part ecothriller. Set on the ravishing Oregon coast, it stars Isabel Spinner, a tai chi-practicing forensic wildlife pathologist with a mystical oceanic heritage. She becomes involved with Marshall, whose life is saved with the transplanted heart of a baboon. As he copes with disorienting visions of baboon life on the African savannah, Isabel investigates a tragic mass stranding of dozens of dolphins and whales and discovers that the U.S. Navy is conducting secrets tests of low-frequency active radar, a highly controversial new weapon that has proven, in real life, to be brutally deadly to marine life. Peterson's hectic plot also involves primates subjected to macabre genetic-engineering experiments and chimps who know sign language. Although somewhat ungainly, this is a galvanizing and enlightening tale thanks to Peterson's expert portrayal of animals, compassionate view of radical activism, and illuminating insights into our profound bonds with other species. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 292 pages
• Publisher: Sierra Club Books; 1 edition (March 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578051088
• ISBN-13: 978-1578051083
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,193,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"TOP TEN BEST NON-FICTION BOOKS OF 2010" BY CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

AN INDIE NEXT "GREAT READ" BY INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS NATIONWIDE

WATCH Brenda's BOOK LUST "You Tube" excerpt on this page below or see the full interview with Nancy Pearl at this link: http://www.seattlechannel.org/schedule/programDetails.asp?title=3031103

Brenda's new website: www.IWantToBeLeftBehind.com and Brenda's Blog is at: http://www.iwanttobeleftbehind.blogspot.com/

LISTEN to an audio excerpt from the new book on National Public Radio read by the author at: http://kuow.org/program.php?id=19037

"Unusually affecting and radiant...Peterson seeks a meeting of church and earth in this witty, enrapturing account of a spiritual journey of great relevance to us all." BOOKLIST, starred review

"A tender, lyrical account, Peterson expresses genuine love for her family and gratitude for their gifts. Peterson always seeks common ground." LIBRARY JOURNAL

"Blends her unique autobiography with compassionate and level-headed observations about family, food, religion, life and our relationship with living things. Peterson has a gift for describing her life's many adventures with disarming understatement and narrative poise." KIRKUS REVIEWS

"Brenda Peterson's picaresque memoir is a mesmerizing treat, at turns inspiring and hilarious. Her keen-eyed descriptions of the natural world, and a delicious sense of fun, combine beautifully with tales of protecting seals, whales, hope, and other wild things."
Diane Ackerman, author THE ZOOKEEPER'S WIFE


"A loving, luminous portrait of an irresistibly intriguing family, told by the most fascinating member of all -- the one who doesn't fit in. It's alive with stars over the Grand Canyon, scents of the sea, menus at family gatherings, and singing a descant. The story is told with such truth and tenderness that you can't help loving the whole family."
Sy Montgomery, author of THE GOOD, GOOD PIG


"I've been a fan of Brenda Peterson's novels since the witty DUCK AND COVER. But I can't think of another book at all like this memoir -- it's so odd and wonderful. Peterson writes here of family and conflicting faiths with moving and poignant humor."
Diane Johnson, author of LE DIVORCE


"Brenda Peterson, one of the most eloquent nature writers of our time, takes on human nature. Read this book and share it widely. It is that important."
Marc Bekoff, author of of THE EMOTIONAL LIFE OF ANIMALS

Visit Brenda's website at: www.literati.net/Peterson


Brenda Peterson is the author of 15 books, including a New York Times "Notable Book of the Year," DUCK AND COVER. Her memoir, BUILD ME AN ARK: A Life with Animals was chosen as a "Best Spiritual Book of 2001" and translated into Chinese. Her non-fiction books include the classic LIVING BY WATER and the National Geographic Book SIGHTINGS. Peterson's most recent novel is ANIMAL HEART (Sierra Club Books).

For the past three decades Peterson has written about inter-species relationships and edited several bestselling anthologies, including INTIMATE NATURE and FACE TO FACE. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Body/Soul magazine, Reader's Digest, Sierra, San Francisco Chronicle, Utne Reader, and Oprah magazine. Since 1993 she has contributed commentary for Seattle's NPR stations.

Peterson's new book, I WANT TO BE LEFT BEHIND: Finding Rapture Here on Earth is a spiritual memoir, widely acclaimed and award-winning. Hew new children's book, PUPS ON THE BEACH is due out from Henry Holt for Young Readers in 2010.Peterson is the founder of the grassroots citizen naturalists Seal Sitters [www.sealsitters.org] and she is also a devoted singer in a Seattle chorale. Peterson writes and teaches in Seattle, Washington by the Salish Sea.Contact her through her website: www.literati.net/Peterson

author photos by: Chris Stuvek and Deb Ching

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Crimes of the Heart., March 7, 2004

By 

G. Merritt (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Animal Heart: A Novel (Hardcover)

After demonstrating her talents as a nonfiction nature writer, and inspired by her love for our oceans and marine life, Brenda Peterson (BUILD ME AN ARK, 2001; SINGING TO THE SOUND, 2000) has returned to writing fiction with her strong, new novel, ANIMAL HEART. Published by the Sierra Club, ANIMAL HEART explores Peterson's concerns about the new scientific technologies of our "brave new world" (p. 110), namely xenotransplantation and the military's experiments with mid-to-low frequency active sonar. The plot of Peterson's novel follows two wildlife pathologists, "passionately curious" (p. 79), Isabel Spinner and her friend, Marian Windhorse, and their forensic investigation of a mass stranding of whales and dolphins along the Oregon coast during U.S. Navy off-shore testing of high-intensity sonar. Meanwhile, after another character, Marshall McGreggor, suffers an underwater heart attack, doctors implant a baboon's heart into his chest. Soon thereafter, he experiences "cellular memories" (p. 118) of life as an ape on an African savannah. When he befriends another transplant patient, Irene Feinstein, the recipient of a pig valve heart implant, the two discover they are in an "unknown territory" (p. 264), and begin wondering if their hearts are trying to tell them something--that human life and culture are not the only measures, that humans are not the only ones who matter. With ANIMAL HEART, Peterson has not only written a troubling story about scientific techonlogies gone way too far, but a story sure to touch the heart of every reader.

G. Merritt

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Cutting Edge Eco-Thriller, June 22, 2004

By 

Maureen Michelson "NewSage Press Publisher" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Animal Heart: A Novel (Hardcover)

Brenda Peterson has combined her talents as nature writer and novelist in this fascinating book. "Animal Heart" is an eco-adventure/love story that makes for a riveting read. I read late into the night in order to finish this novel, too captivated with the storyline to wait for another day to learn the outcome!

Brenda Peterson has a great talent for weaving together true yet scary scientific realities of our modern world with her heroic yet quirky fictional characters who work for a better world for animals.

If you believe in the great mysteries that exist between humans and animals, and those inexplicable places where are realities cross and mingle, you'll love this book. If you care about humane treatment of all animals, this story will resonate with you. And if you like an unusual, intriguing love story, this will be a good read!

I applaud Peterson for her commitment to animals and nature, whether she is writing fiction or nonfiction. And that she makes no apologies for her great passion and vision for a kinder, gentler world for all species. And the good news is the last page of the book begs for a sequel...now, we can only wait to learn what happens next!