Undercut, A Novel

Told from multiple third-person points of view, Undercut is a historical and climate fiction about deforestation, colonial mineral extraction, and the resilience shown by the Wá∙šiw (Washoe) People, who have managed Lake Tahoe’s environment since the beginning of time.

In 1859 in the Sierra Nevada foothills, the three Shipp brothers uncover a tremendous vein of gold. When the youngest, Joshua, finds one brother dead and the other disappeared, he flees to a ramshackle logging camp near Lake Tahoe. When the foreman–the most superstitious jack in the woods–hires him to watch the Italian because “something has him distracted,” Joshua finds himself once again idle while others do the work.

Frustrated by cowardice and inept as a logger, he’s determined to earn his place even at the expense of productivity. When an accident kills his partner Giuseppe’s son, the foreman reveals that Joshua’s brother is financing this operation and accuses him of spying. To prove his loyalty and ensure their season’s pay, Joshua must go to Virginia City and confront his brother. The problem is his ambition for revenge is wavering because becoming the last Shipp brother standing also means being truly, unbearably alone.

Meanwhile, Dahámugáyugiʔ is one of the last generations of Wá∙šiw People who remembers a time before foreigners invaded their homelands. Determined to stop further deforestation, she begins sabotaging the logging camp, spooking the loggers and defying her family’s wishes. When a stoic Italian sees her, she’s terrified but his reaction gives her pause: he lays down his ax and reaches out, as if he knows her. Warily, she decides that every day she distracts him means one less tree is cut.

When her husband volunteers to return a lost Pony Express horse to Mormon Station and he and his brother are accused of horse thieving, Dahámugáyugiʔ becomes fed up with the illogical violence plaguing her family and lands and devises a plan to use Giuseppe’s newfound loyalty to save her husband and her people. Separated by language but united by a common enemy, they go to Virginia City–the hub of American’s largest silver mines and tomb of Sierra Nevada forests–to destroy the logging industry that has stolen so much from both of them.

Author’s Note

While writing this novel, I have consulted with members of the Wá∙šiw community, who helped with cultural details and even developed unique Wá∙šiw names specifically for characters in this novel. I began writing this story because I wanted to understand what happened to the trees, to tell the story of why Tahoe’s forests are so unhealthy. Although I was born and raised in Tahoe City, I lived twenty-two years before learning that the entire basin was clear-cut. I had no idea, and neither do thousands of other residents and visitors who live in and travel to the Reno/Tahoe region every year.

This historical climate fiction focuses on the effects 19th-century logging and mining have had on this region’s landscapes and people. My hopes is that this novel will promote dialogues around cultural and environmental history and engage readers in a deeper understanding of our historical relationships to place and the devastating effects of colonialism throughout the American West.

Throughout this project, I have consulted with regional experts and members of the Wá·šiw Nation, who have helped with language choices, historical details, and even created unique Wá·šiw names for my characters. After more than ten years of research, writing, and engagement, I’ve come to understand how we are all responsible for our colonial past, and it’s not too late to make amends. To learn more about the Wá·šiw People, also known as the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, please visit their website at washoetribe.us.

Undercut is not yet finished! But I’m getting close. I have been researching and writing for many years and relearning how I think about this special place.

You can follow my journey by subscribing to my newsletter, which explores history of Lake Tahoe and the American West, novel updates, occassional short stories, and grammar for regular people.