The Marmot Drive. A Novel

The Marmot Drive, a novel of extraordinary force and craftsmanship, deals with certain events on two summer days in an out-of-the-way Connecticut village. The occasion is the decision of the villagers of Tunxis to launch their long-debated drive to rid a nearby valley of an infestation of marmots.* But the drive is merely the catalyst. Its tensions and rigors release a storm of impulses and long-hidden traits in the people involved, so that in the end the natural drama is engulfed by the human drama.  *Marmot: .
certain stout-bodied, shortlegged rodents. They have coarse fur, a short bushy tail, and very small ears, and live in burrows, hibernating in winter. The American species are called woodchucks, ground hogs, or whistlers.