When the Forest Fights Back: Sweet Constance Blends Grief, Grit, and Eco-Resistance

You can bulldoze a forest, but you can’t bury what it awakens.

In Jane Carlsen’s fierce, lyrical debut SWEET CONSTANCE, one woman’s grief turns into gritty resistance when her sanctuary—300 acres of Oregon forest—is sold out from under her. Connie Sweet, retired teacher and reluctant land defender, wanted peace. What she gets instead is a front-row seat to environmental destruction and a sidekick in the form of her friend’s disillusioned nephew, whose forest sketches are equal parts art and elegy.

What starts as quiet documentation becomes an act of rebellion. Connie’s mission? Make the rich guy with the vineyard feel what he’s killing. But when the lines between witness and warrior blur, she’ll have to decide what—and who—she’s willing to lose for the land that once held her together.

📚 292 pages of eco-grief, radical hope, and a healthy dose of middle-aged fury
🌲 Think: Olive Kitteridge meets Erin Brockovich in the woods
💥 For readers who believe the land isn’t just background—it’s blood

👉 Available now from Unsolicited Press.
💸 $22.95 | ISBN: 978-1-963115-44-4 | Cover by GERHARDT
🗓 Publication Date: August 5, 2025

Warning: Contains unapologetic women, wild ecosystems, and the occasional felony.