The Witch of Hebron

The bestselling author of The Long Emergency returns with a gripping, darkly amusing sequel to his novel World Made by Hand, which Alan Cheuse of NPR called “brilliant.” In the tiny hamlet of Union Grove, New York, the electricity has flickered off, the internet is a distant memory, and the government is little more than a rumor. Travel may be horse-drawn and farming back at the center of life, but Union Grove is no pastoral haven. Wars are fought over dwindling resources and illness is a constant presence. Bandits roam the countryside, preying on the weak and a sinister cult threatens to shatter the town’s fragile stability. In The Witch of Hebron, a novel that is both shocking and eerily convincing, renowned social commentator James Howard Kunstler expands on his vision of post-oil society in America. In what Booklist has called “suspenseful, darkly amusing story with touches of the fantastic in the mode of Washington Irving,” he seamlessly weaves together prescient issues such as the perils of climate crisis into a compelling narrative of violence, religious hysteria, innocence lost, and love found.