Undercut, A Novel
Told from multiple third-person points of view, Undercut is a literary historical novel about deforestation, colonial resource extraction, and the resilience shown by the Wá∙šiw (Washoe) People, who have managed Lake Tahoe’s environment since the beginning of time.
Photo of hatchets on stump by Jennifer Garza-Cuen.
After his brother’s murder, Joshua Shipp flees to an accident-prone logging camp near Lake Tahoe where he is partnered with the most terrifying logger in the woods. Something has Giuseppe distracted and the foreman wants Joshua to find out what.
Dahámugáyugiʔ, a Wa·šiw woman soon to be married to her best friend, acts against her family’s wishes by repeatedly sabotaging the logging camp. Her biggest sabotage yet: convincing Giuseppe to shift his priorities from cutting trees to saving them.
As Joshua seeks to become the region’s next timber baron, Dahámugáyugiʔ does everything in her power to stop the loggers and save her family’s homelands. Told in multiple points of views, Undercut is a historical novel about deforestation in Lake Tahoe (California/Nevada) in the 1860s and about the Wá∙šiw (Washoe) People who resisted the effects of industrial colonization.
This project has been approved by the Washoe Cultural Resource Advisory Council and has been read by local historians, sensitivity readers, and cultural consultants from the Wá∙šiw Nation, who have provided unique character names specifically for this novel. I hold an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Nevada Reno and grew up in Tahoe City, California, where this novel is set.
Author’s Note
Undercut is not yet finished! I am currently seeking agent representation. My goal is to share Lake Tahoe’s history of deforestation with the thousands of residents and millions of visitors each year. Subscribe to my newsletter to learn more.
I hope this novel promotes dialogues around cultural and environmental history and engages readers in a deeper understanding of our historical relationships to place and the devastating effects of colonialism has had throughout the American West. If you’d like to learn more about the Wá·šiw People, also known as the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, visit washoetribe.us.