Review
"There is such tragic irony here. The very things that Japanese tourist Tomomi Hanamure is so deeply passionate about--the wild, stark, beautiful American West and Native American culture--are what leads to her violent death. Around this single horrific event Annette McGivney has masterfully woven three separate, highly personal narratives."
-- S. C. Gwynne, Author of Empire of the Summer Moon, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
"McGivney intuitively grounds her narrative while exploring humanity's roots of culture and origins of character, like the light of the sun awakening each intricate layer of earth in the deepest of canyons. She is a storyteller of the highest caliber, with a style reminiscent of Jon Krakauer's journalistic skill and unmistakable purpose."
-- Carine McCandless, author of The Wild Truth, the New York Times bestselling follow-up to Into the Wild
"Annette McGivney has gathered three disparate narratives and braided them into a bewitching tapestry of darkness and light, pain and atonement, along with the unexpected gifts that can sometimes accompany profoundly devastating loss."
-- Kevin Fedarko, author of The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon
"Pure Land reads like Into the Wild, but with a female protagonist, and by an author who is even more fearless than Krakauer in her quest to understand her past, her motivations, and her desire to make sense of a brutal, possibly unavoidable murder."
--Tracy Ross, author of The Source of All Things, a Memoir
"With unflinching courage, Annette McGivney investigates the deep shadows of tragic, cyclical abuse. But Pure Land is a healing journey. McGivney's
open-hearted compassion imbues dignity on even the most troubled of our species." -- Ann Cummins, author of Yellowcake and Red Ant House
"In Pure Land, just as the Colorado formed the Grand Canyon, Annette McGivney shows how landscape and the circumstances of geography, politics and history formed the lives of Randy Wescogame and Tomomi Hanamure as well as her own. With such incredible compassion, deep insight, and crafted language, McGivney shapes their stories as richly as the landscape
has shaped their lives." -- Nicole Walker, author of Egg
"McGivney does a masterful job weaving three life stories together making Pure Land a compelling saga that underscores the inestimable value of nurture and nature in shaping lives--for good and bad--and in the end, the incredible healing power of family love and wilderness." -- Thomas Myers, author of Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon
From the Author
When I took an assignment covering a murder in Grand Canyon, I thought it would be challenging but nothing I couldn't handle after dozens of previous assignments for Backpacker magazine. I was wrong. The assignment pulled me down a frightening tunnel where I not only explored the reasons behind the murder of a hiker but also unexpectedly stumbled upon the darkest secrets I had been keeping from myself most of my life. What was supposed to be a few months of reporting turned into a decade-long quest. I came out on the other end completely transformed, humbled and a more content and joyful person. Pure Land is my story of this journey. I am sharing my experience in the hope that it will help others who have been impacted by family violence.
About the Author
Annette McGivney is an award-winning journalist and the longtime Southwest Editor for Backpacker magazine. In addition to Backpacker, her writing has appeared in Outside, Arizona Highways, The Guardian and Sunset magazines. Her June 2007 Backpacker article "Freefall" about the murder of Tomomi Hanamure won a Maggie Award in 2008 from the Western Magazine Publishers Association for Best News Story. McGivney is the author of the previous books, Resurrection: Glen Canyon and a New Vision for the American West (Braided River, 2009), and Leave No Trace: A Guide to the New Wilderness Etiquette (The Mountaineers, 2003). She teaches journalism at Northern Arizona University and lives in Flagstaff, Arizona.
