UW Press: Settlers Valley

“A heck of a read. Settlers Valley comfortably ambles in typical Jerry Apps fashion even as chapters bristle with action and explore complex issues of the day. Every page is a reminder of his deep understanding of and love for rural Wisconsin.”
—Bill Berry, author of Banning DDT: How Citizen Activists in Wisconsin Led the Way

No matter what Reader's Digest would have you believe, C.J. Anderson wants you to know he's no hero. Broken and reeling from the untimely death of his parents, the young vet with PTSD begins working a small farm plot at the suggestion of his grandfather. As the land yields its first crops, C.J. begins to heal and contacts a few wounded Army friends to join him in Settlers Valley. They build a collective of sustainable farmers who called themselves the Back to the Land Veterans. Their progressive ideas and neighborly spirit are welcome by many in the tight-knit town. But others would much rather things stay exactly the way they were, thank you very much. When a series of tragic events hits the valley, will neighbors come together, or will the town fall apart?

In this eminently readable story, Jerry Apps delves into the heart of small-town America. Reckoning with timely problems and opinions that divide us, he shows us the power in restoring our relationships with nature and our communities.

Jerry Apps. Jerry Apps has written more than forty fiction and nonfiction books about life in the upper Midwest, including In a Pickle and Simple Things: Lessons from the Family Farm. He is a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and has appeared in five documentaries about rural history and country life produced by Wisconsin Public Television.

“Apps weaves a story of intrigue as a rural settlement of veterans finds itself up against unimagined odds. Flames leap, gunshots crackle, lovers swoon as a once peaceful Wisconsin valley is fractured by deception, hatred, and the remnant stresses of war.”
—Jim Guhl, author of Eleven Miles to Oshkosh