Angel has returned to Adams's Rib to find her roots. She is a 17-year-old girl in search of her family and most of all, who was her mother Hannah Wing (p 21). This is also a spiritual quest for Angel, yet that is only an observation that I became aware of after reading this novel Solar Storms. This novel begins with Angel's arrival at Adam's Rib on Tinselman's Ferry (p21). We are given a small history of the settlers - the British, Norwegians and Swedes. Here the groundwork is being laid out by Linda Hogan on how these lands were shaped, and the importance of the water. We are told of a woman in a canoe appearing out of the fog (p22). Also we are given great detail of the terrain. Angel is on a quest to meet her family and find out who her mother Hannah Wing was. Angel comes to Adam's Rib at the invitation of her great grandmother, Agnes Irons (p 23). At this point and throughout the novel, Linda Hogan takes great care to show the reader great details of the surroundings so that the reader feels present in the story. Or one with the characters, you can almost smell the fish and tress, see the sky and experience the desolation and barrenness of the land as well as the beauty. We see through this description the simple life people are leading. These people who live off the land.
Angel arrives scared, alone with her worldly possessions - two garbage bags (p23). Angel is welcomed by her great grandmother Agnes, who is so happy to see Angel, and caught with great emotion and cries tears of joy at Angel's arrival (p25). It reminded me of the story of the Prodigal Son from the Bible, and how the father was so filled with joy at his son's return. Next we are introduced to Dora-Rouge, Angel's Great Great Grandmother. We are integrated to the way of life in this small town and how people in this small new world of Angel is interconnected - John Husk, Frenchie, Bush, and how these people depend on each other, food being social as well as sustaining and the importance of sharing.