Carbon Dreams

Overview

At an oceanography institute in northern California, Dr. Tina Arenas studies climates of the distant geologic past—but her data has unexpectedly modern implications. As she struggles to obtain research funding, Tina finds herself being dragged into the media spotlight on global warming and falling in love with a local organic farmer, who has his own ideas about climate, the media, scientific funding, and commitment. Set in the early 1980s, when the oil industry was beginning its climate change denial campaign, CARBON DREAMS is the story of one scientist’s struggle to reconcile her conflicting responsibilities to science, to society, and to her own loved ones.

Reviews

“An original and compelling story of scientific discovery and political strife, this remarkable novel explores the personal, professional, and political stakes of scientists' efforts to understand—and warn the world—about human-induced climate change. Even more relevant now than when first published!” —Jean Hegland, author of INTO THE FOREST and STILL TIME
 

“A believable and riveting saga of one woman’s quest for scientific truth…. Skillfully written and deftly plotted, this novel of science set in the early 1980s is unexpectedly compelling.” —Booklist
 

“Gaines, who has degrees in chemistry and oceanography, has boldly built the novel around challenging scientific theories…her use of complex concepts and true-to-life practice is inspired.” —The San Francisco Chronicle
 

 “No contemporary novelist I know of makes science sexier.” —The Press Democrat

"[A] story about the devastatingly serious issue of human-induced climate change…. A remarkable job of conveying what it’s really like to be a scientist, and to make scientific discoveries—not in the blink of an eye, as television or movies would have it, but with gradually shifting insight.’ – C&E News

"To read it is to be carried deep into the mind of a young scientist, and just as deep into the mysteries of global warming phenomena past and future." —Louis B. Jones, author of PARTICLES AND LUCK and INNOCENCE.

“Even if you’re suffering from post-Kyoto depression, don’t be put off: Susan Gaines’s Carbon Dreams will banish your blues. Her beguiling heroine stubbornly pursues the big, sprawling questions in oceanography, exploring odd bits of evidence and giving her curiosity rein.… Gripping stuff.” —New Scientist

“At last, a book that integrates authentic scientific inquiry with the character-driven magic of good literary fiction…. A captivating story that places romantic love side-by-side with the love of sublime ideas.” —Frederick Reiken, author of DAY FOR NIGHT and LOST LEGENDS OF NEW JERSEY

Author Biography

Susan M. Gaines is the author of the novels ACCIDENTALS and CARBON DREAMS, and of the non-fiction book ECHOES OF LIFE: WHAT FOSSIL MOLECULES REVEAL ABOUT EARTH HISTORY. Twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize, her stories and essays have appeared in the North American Review, Missouri Review, Nature, and many other journals. She divides her time between Santa Cruz, CA and Bremen Germany, where she was one of the founders of the Fiction Meets Science program at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg.