The Fifteen Wonders of Daniel Green by Erica Boyce

THE FIFTEEN WONDERS OF DANIEL GREEN by Erica Boyce has a bit of a sci-fi vibe (crop circles), some romance, and a mystery, but it is mostly about the relationships which we develop – especially when we can be open and vulnerable to others. As such, this debut novel is a melancholy story with a hopeful, uplifting ending. Daniel Green is a young man who creates crop circles and Sam, a resilient farmer devoted to his community in Vermont, secretly engages Daniel to fashion one and create excitement about the area. All seems to be going according to plan until Sam receives bad news about his health, causing his daughter Nessa to take off on a cross country driving trip in an effort to convince her estranged brother to head back to the farm.  Daniel accompanies her and readers learn a great deal about their background stories and struggles as the narration shifts back and forth between them. In fact, several other chapters are told from the perspective of Molly, Sam’s wife and Nessa’s mother, further adding to an understanding about why they settled in Vermont. All of these different voices are told in the first person and that is a bit disconcerting at times although each is written beautifully. One example is when Sam and Molly are comforting each other and she thinks, “I love you in my bones. I don’t say a word. Instead, I stretch my body out next to him and place my arm over his chest, my leg over his own. As if I could be a frame to house him, the beams and studs and foundation protecting him from everything.”