After Eden is a novel whose plot examines questions about identity and community. The story opens as Emily arrives in Northern California's Mackenzie Valley, where she plans to relax at her cabin, far away from her "real" life as a city planner in Chicago. The sudden death of her life partner causes Emily to examine her personal commitments to work, family, and home. During this disturbing and restorative period of reflection, she also comes to understand more deeply the intercultural complexities of life in the Valley." "In the modern-day Eden of California's coastal range, Emily finds conflict all around her: between loggers and environmentalists, farmworkers and immigration authorities, newcomers establishing a lesbian community and long-time residents clinging to traditional ways. There is conflict also between humans and nature in the ever present threat of wildfires