The Wren's Song

When a physically and psychologically-scarred Vietnam vet discovers survey markers in a secluded redwood grove in the hills of Sonoma County, California—a place that has become a personal sanctuary for him—and learns that the owner plans to build a swanky spa there, he vows to block the development. And when he meets the owner’s sixteen-year-old granddaughter there and learns that it is a sanctuary for her, too, they form an unlikely bond. The Wren’s Song is the story of their tireless, passionate conspiratorial campaign to pressure the owner into abandoning his plan and preserving the grove instead. The Wren’s Song explores tensions that have run deep in American society for years—environmental protection vs. development, class conflict, entitlement of the rich, and decline of the middle and working classes. A small-time landscape gardener—Jerry Kowalski—struggles to recognize and claim his own wisdom and power. An idealistic teenage climate activist—Kaitlyn Tillson—grows into her agency when she decides to stand up to her grandfather. And the scion of a wealthy San Francisco family—Paul Tillson—finds that he must choose between his love for his granddaughter and his desire to build a physical legacy.