Laurie Fairchild’s debut novel Never Only pairs a serious environmental question with a sense of humor, which may be one of the most appealing things about it. The book asks readers to imagine Mother Nature weighing Humanity’s future, but it does not approach that idea as a cold exercise.
Instead, Mother Nature is presented as someone who has spent millennia learning from life on Earth and grieving the loneliness left behind by mass extinctions. Wanting clarity about Humanity’s intentions, she enlists a therapist to help her decide whether one species may need to be sacrificed to save the rest.
The novel comes from a writer whose life has been shaped by the natural world in a very direct way. Fairchild is a Cheyenne resident and biologist who earned a Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from the University of Wyoming and a Master’s in Water Resources Science from the University of Minnesota. Her career began in Alaska during the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, continued through seabird productivity work on the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea, and later extended into a range of positions with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. She retired in 2019 as a habitat and wildlife biologist working with landowners in Minnesota.
Never Only is out today, which gives its Earth Day release a built-in relevance. It is not hard to see why a novel centered on conservation and life diversity would choose this date to enter the world.
Readers in Cheyenne can also catch the release event today from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens. The evening includes a reading, refreshments, books for purchase, and a guided tour of the Botanic Garden Conservatory. Venue details are available at botanic.org.
Fairchild’s childhood adds one more layer to the picture. She grew up moving around the country with her family while her father worked as a geologist building and repairing large dams, and much of that life unfolded in rural places that helped shape her love of horses, the outdoors, and exploring habitats.
