Port Book and News

Jonathan Evison returns to face the music.  West of Here is now in paperback.

Set in the fictional town of Port Bonita (read Port Angeles), West of Here is a story that both re-creates and  celebrates the American experience.

At the foot of the Elwha River, the muddy outpost of Port Bonita is about to boom, fueled by a ragtag band of dizzyingly disparate men and women unified only in their visions of a more prosperous future.  A failed accountant by the name of Ethan Thornburgh has just arrived in Port Bonita to reclaim the woman he loves and start a family.  Ethan's obsession with a brighter future impels the damming of the mighty Elwha to harness its power and put Port Bonita on the map.
More than a century later, his great-great grandson, a middle manager at a failing fish- packing plant, is destined to oversee the undoing of that vision, as the great Thornburgh dam is marked for demolition, having blocked the very lifeline that could have sustained the town.  "West of Here" is a grand and playful odyssey, a multilayered saga of destiny and greed, adventure and passion, that chronicles the life of one small town, turning America 's history into myth, and myth into a nation's shared experience.Jonathan Evison gave an excellent performance when he read for us for the hardcover release.  He has great stage presence.  Jonathan is the author of All About Lulu, which won the Washington State Book Award.

West of Here is published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.