Journey into the Wild
Reviving Artemis: The Making of a Huntress
Explore Deborah’s journey of embracing fears, redefining personal limits, and finding her place in the natural world.
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“A lyrical, spiritual story of a woman making a change later in life.” ~Kirkus Review
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Finding a Place in the Natural World
Reviving Artemis is the unlikely story of a woman raised in mid-twentieth-century suburbia, then lived in New York City as a young adult, and moved to Vermont in 1984. For more than thirty years, she raised domestic livestock, kept bees, and cultivated fruits and vegetables while teaching literature and telling stories. But when she turned sixty, something shifted. Luskin was overtaken by a primal urge to step out of the garden, off the blazed trails, and into untracked forest by learning to hunt deer.
Deeply personal, lyrically told, and funny, Reviving Artemis reveals Luskin’s ambivalence about guns and her fear of entering the forest alone in the dark. She persisted, using her literary acumen to read the forest and, as thoughtfully as she hunts for words, to hunt for deer. With the stories of Artemis, goddess of the hunt, childbirth, and wild nature to inspire her, Luskin became a huntress determined to age fiercely and compelled to tell this story of finding her place in the natural world.
Key Themes and Insights
Reinterpreting Mythology
Delve into the rich reinterpretation of Artemis, exploring themes of empowerment and liberation.
Mentorship and Growth
Meet the mentors who guide the author on her journey, blending tradition with spirituality.
Connection with Nature
Experience the transformative power of nature as the author learns to navigate the wilderness.
Overcoming Fears
Follow Deborah’s inspiring story of overcoming urban aversions to the untracked woods as she steps off-trail and learns to read the forested landscape.
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Deborah Lee Luskin
Deborah Lee Luskin moved from New York City to Vermont in 1984 to write, garden, keep bees, and raise daughters. Luskin has been an editorial columnist, radio commentator, pen-for-hire, and blogger. Her first novel, Into the Wilderness, won the Independent Publishers Gold Medal for Regional Fiction. Luskin has also enjoyed a long career as an educator, teaching writing and literature-based humanities to gifted elementary writers, college students, new adult readers, life-long learners, healthcare workers, and prison inmates. She holds a PhD in English Literature and expected to become an academic, not a deer hunter. She lives in Vermont with her husband, their dog, usually a cat, and a variable number of chickens.
What Readers Are Saying
Truly a Joy to Read
“This engaging memoir follows the trail of how hunting deer grounded a woman more strongly in her community, the forest, and herself—truly a joy to read.” ~Tom Wessels, author of Reading the Forested Landscape
“In Reviving Artemis, Deborah Lee Luskin answers the call to enter the woods with courage and perseverance, starting a new chapter in her life. Like Artemis, Luskin becomes a protector of wild nature, and she understands the deep interconnectivity between her personal life, the forest, and her community. Yet Luskin does more than honor her primordial roots. She shows vulnerability and hope, redefining herself through the pursuit of deer, embodying the fundamental characteristics of any true hunter: temperance, understanding, and love.” ~Jesse C. McEntee, Next Adventure.
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